通译双语文库:像爱丽丝的小镇第九章|Chapter 9

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那年的十一和十二月，琴·佩吉特比以往任何时候都工作得更加卖力。

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In the months of November and December that year Jean Paget worked harder than she had ever worked before.

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露丝·索耶两周后在威尔斯镇与她会合，阿姬·托普十一月初登上了驶往澳大利亚的船。我请帕克先生让阿姬在离开英国之前来见我。她是一个古板的女人，干枯消瘦，但我马上就看出来帕克先生说得挺对的：如果要找人监督姑娘们工作，她是最合适的人选。我把她的票给她，还有一份打印好的路线说明，告诉她如何从悉尼坐飞机到威尔斯镇。随后我跟她谈起她的工作。“这是一件非常、非常艰苦的工作。”我说，“那个地方又艰苦又热，而且佩吉特小姐的生意完全从零开始。她有很多钱，但在那里经商的过程将自始至终困难重重。您能理解我的意思吗，托普太太？”

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Rose Sawyer joined her in Willstown within a fortnight, and Aggie Topp sailed early in November. I got Mr Pack to send Aggie to see me before she left. She was a gaunt, rather prim woman, but I could see at once that Pack had been quite right; if anyone could make girls work this woman could. I gave her her ticket and a typed sheet of instructions telling her how she would get by air from Sydney to Willstown, and then I talked to her about the job.“You know, it’s very, very rough,”I said.“It’s rough, and it’s hot, and Miss Paget is having to start absolutely from nothing. She’s got plenty of money, but it’s going to be hard, all the time. You understand that, Mrs Topp?”

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她说：“我收到两封来自佩吉特小姐的信，她寄了一张那个地方的照片给我，拍的是主街道。我必须说，那里看起来没什么地方好去。”

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She said,“I’ve had two letters from Miss Paget, and she sent a photograph of the place, the main street. It don’t look up to much, I must say.”

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“去那儿你还挺高兴的，是不是？”

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“You’re quite happy to go out there, are you?”

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她说：“哦，我以前去过艰苦的地方。反正也就只去一年。”然后她说，“我一向很喜欢佩吉特小姐。”

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She said,“Oh well, I’ve been in rough places before. It’s only for a year to start with, anyway.”And then she said,“I always liked Miss Paget.”

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我还有一件事情要托付给阿姬·托普。琴非常焦急地想买到一台空调，跟一个小冰柜差不多大小，可以放在房间里吸收热空气并喷出大量冷气。这对她而言似乎很重要，因为必须防止姑娘们在工作时满手是汗，在精致的皮鞋上留下汗渍。她在澳大利亚买不到，就给我发电报。我找到一家生产空调的公司，好不容易才买到一台，还暗地里花了一点钱。德里克·哈里斯非常善于应付这一类谈判。我让他们把空调送到我们办公室，存放在楼梯脚下。我带托普太太去看了一眼，安排好让她带上它去悉尼。她要带着它从悉尼飞去凯恩斯和威尔斯镇，所费不菲，但我觉得那是值得的，因为一年最热的时候即将来临。

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I had another matter to fix up with Aggie Topp. Jean was very anxious to get hold of an air-conditioning unit, a thing about the size of a small refrigerator which stood in the room and took hot air into itself and pumped it out cold into the room; it seemed to her important to have this to prevent the girls’ hands from sweating as they worked and marking the delicate leathers of the shoes. She had not been able to get hold of one in Australia and had cabled me, and I had found a firm that made them and got hold of one with a good deal of difficulty and some small payments on the side. Derek Harris is rather good at that sort of negotiation. I had it in our office standing at the foot of the stairs and I showed it to Mrs Topp, and arranged for her to take it out with her to Sydney. From Sydney it would have to be flown up with her to Cairns and Willstown at some considerable expense, but it seemed to me to be worth it since it was then the hottest time of the year.

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在琴交代给我的任务中，这是最重要的一项，也是我个人对这笔投资能做出的最大贡献。她余下的电报都是关于一些毫不麻烦的琐事。阿姬·托普也从帕克和利维带走了很多东西：三大箱工具、鞋楦、样板和其他各种东西。运费总共一百四十六镑，我在英国替琴支付了账单。

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This was the biggest commission that I got from Jean and was my own main contribution to the venture; the remainder of her cables were concerned with little bits of things that were no trouble. Aggie Topp took out with her a good deal of stuff from Pack and Levy, too; three cases full of tools and lasts and formers and all sorts of things, the bill for which came to about a hundred and forty-six pounds, which I paid for Jean in England.

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一回到威尔斯镇，她就在乔·哈曼的帮助下开始修建工厂和冰室。他们在陈列着棺材的木匠车间里跟蒂姆·惠兰和他两个儿子开会。他们已经从凯恩斯预订了两卡车的木材。男士们站着，或以牧工姿势坐在地面上，面前摆满了画着楼房的布局图。先修建附带三个卧室的工厂，再在旁边修冰室，一头留出扩建工厂的空间，另一头留出扩建冰室的空间。在威尔斯镇建筑物最密集之处，扩建也并不困难。

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Joe Harman helped her to get the buildings started on the day that they arrived in Willstown. They had a meeting with Tim Whelan and his two sons, in the carpenter’s shop amongst the coffins. They had already placed orders for two lorry loads of lumber in Cairns. The men stood or sat squatting, ringer fashion, on the floor with papers on the floor before them, planning the layout of the buildings; the workshop with its three-bedroom annexe was to be built first, and after that the ice-cream parlour next to it, leaving room for the expansion of the workshop one way and of the ice-cream parlour the other way. There were no great difficulties of expansion in the built-up area of Willstown.

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不久，他们派蒂姆·惠兰去找郡文书卡特先生，请他批准新建楼房的计划，并批准他们在主街道上租一块地。“那儿应该没问题。”他思考着说，“1905年的时候，那儿有一整排的房子——我有一张照片，但在我任职期间，从未收到过那块地的租金。”琴问他要收多少租金，但考虑到没有可供参照的价格，而且她尚未确定要租多大面积，数目一时难以确定。“那是一个镇自治区，”卡特先生说，“在镇自治区内，不以土地面积为基础收取租金。如果你想通过修建房子来发展该地皮，租金就是每一百英尺临街宽度每年大约一先令。我指的是主街道。如果你想用这块地来养鸡或者做诸如此类的事情，我要收你五先令。”

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They sent Tim Whelan presently to find Mr Carter, the Shire Clerk, to pass the plans of the new buildings and to grant a lease of the site in the main street.“It’ll be all right there,”he said thoughtfully.“There was a whole row of houses there in 1905—I’ve got a photograph. But nobody ever paid rent for that land in my time.”Jean asked what rent would be required for the area she wanted, a difficult matter to decide in view of the fact that no plans existed and the area that she wanted was quite uncertain.“This is a town borough,”Mr Carter said.“You don’t lease land upon an acreage basis in a town borough. If you’re going to develop the land by building, then I’d say about a shilling a year for each hundred foot of frontage. It’s in the main street, you see. If you wanted it for chickens or anything like that I’d have to charge five shillings.”

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他们转移至旅馆的酒吧签订合同。琴端着柠檬水坐在外面的台阶上，那对于一个需要在威尔斯镇保持良好声望的女士来讲是很得体的。

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They adjourned to the bar of the hotel to seal the contracts; Jean sat on the steps outside with a lemonade, as was fitting for a lady with a reputation to preserve in Willstown.

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她一周后去布里斯班。先飞去凯恩斯，再坐同一天的班机去布里斯班。她在那里住了三天，返程时已经预订好一个发电机组、一个很大的冰柜、两个冷藏箱、一个不锈钢柜台、八张玻璃面桌子、三十二张椅子、两个洗涤台，以及大量商店零碎杂项用品，如玻璃杯、盘子、餐具和装饰品，还有一大堆小电器和电线。她和公司商定，将所有这些东西装箱并运送至福赛斯。在凯恩斯，她安排好用卡车将这些商品从福赛斯运到威尔斯镇。我给她准备了充足的信用额度，好让她能够为这一切支付现金。

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She went to Brisbane a week later, flying to Cairns and flying on the same day down to Brisbane. She stayed there for three days and came back having ordered an electric generating set, a very large refrigerator, two deep freezes, a stainless steel counter, eight glass-topped tables, thirty-two chairs, two sink units, and a mass of minor shop fittings, glasses, plates, cutlery, and furnishings as well as a good deal of electrical fittings and cable. She made arrangements with the firms for all this stuff to be crated and consigned to Forsayth; in Cairns she made arrangements for the truck transport of these goods from Forsayth to Willstown. I had arranged the necessary credits for her and she was able to pay cash for everything.

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她一周后回到威尔斯镇时，已经初步安排好冰室的存货供应事宜。她发现工厂的框架已经搭建起来了。木制房屋建得很快。这件事情在威尔斯镇轰动一时，老人们常常站在旁边看，惊讶于一个英国姑娘这种疯狂的行为。她是海湾地区的一个陌生人，提出要在那里做鞋并大老远送到英国去卖。他们都太善良了，并没有恶语相向，也没有嘲笑如此一件怪事，但大家对她的投资都抱着一种怀疑的态度，这种令人窒息的气氛，让她在开始几周里倍感孤单。

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She came back to Willstown a week later having made tentative arrangements for supplies of stock for her ice-cream parlour, and found the framework of the workshop already erected; a wooden building goes up very quickly. The matter was a nine days’ wonder in Willstown and old men used to stand around wondering at this midsummer madness of an English girl, a stranger to the Gulf country, who proposed to make shoes there and send them all the way to England to be sold. They were too kindly to be rude to her or to laugh at such an eccentricity, but an aura of disbelief surrounded the whole venture and made her feel very much alone in those first weeks.

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她很快就去拜访了米德赫斯特。周日不施工，她便找了一个周日去。黎明时分，乔·哈曼开他的大型越野车来接她，把她带回米德赫斯特，刚好赶得上吃早饭。越野车一开到看不见小镇的地方，他们就停下来接吻交谈。

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She visited Midhurst at a very early stage, one Sunday when no work was going on upon her building. Joe Harman drove in to fetch her in his big utility at dawn one day, and took her back to Midhurst in time for breakfast. As soon as they were out of sight of the town they stopped for five minutes to kiss and talk.

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过了一会儿，他们谈完情，继续上路。琴这时已经接受了一个事实：郊区连一条碎石子路都没有。她迄今尚未坐车离开过这个镇子。她很快发现，根本就没有固定的道路，所谓的路只是车子穿过郊区时经过的地方。土地被夏天的热气烤得焦干，上面薄薄地覆盖着一丛丛萎蔫的小草。这个地区稀疏地分布着细长而扭曲的桉树，平均高度有二十到三十英尺。树与树之间有相当大的空间，驶过郊区的轿车或者卡车可以在它们之间穿行。这就是他们的路，土地表面如果凹下去一个深坑，或者被来往车辆碾轧得坑坑洼洼，轿车和卡车就绕路走。车辙的方向大致相同，在浅滩处会聚在一起，因为汽车必须从那里过河。小河现在都是干枯的，河床上满是石头。经过浅滩后，车辙又呈扇形散开。

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Presently they disentangled and went on. Jean was accustomed by this time to the idea that no road in this country had a metalled surface. She had not been beyond the town hitherto; very soon she discovered that a road was where the car drove across country. The land was parched and dry with the heat of summer, covered with thin tufts of scorched grass. It was a wooded land, covered thinly with spindly, distorted eucalyptus trees averaging twenty to thirty feet in height; these trees were fairly widely spaced so that it was possible for a car or truck driven across country to find a way between them. This was the road, and when the surface of the earth became too deeply pitted and potholed with traffic the cars and trucks would deviate and choose another course. These tracks followed the same general direction, coming together at the fords where creeks, now dry and stony, had to be crossed, and fanning out again upon the other side.

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每走二十英里她就看到半打牛，它们一听到越野车颠簸时的噪声，马上就害怕得四处狂奔，在崎岖的地面上疾驰。她问乔，那些牛到底能找到什么可吃的，因为这块土地在她看来寸草难生。“它们过得挺好的，”他说，“这里有很多好吃的，老天。草丛里这些干巴巴的东西就跟干草一样呢。”他告诉她，在他们走的这条路附近就有一个水潭。“它们顶多离开水源三四英里，”他说，“而马呢——你会发现它们在离水源足足二十英里远的地方吃草。”

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Once in the twenty miles she saw half a dozen cattle, that stampeded wildly at the noise of the utility as it bounced, and rocketed over the uneven ground. She asked Joe what on earth the cattle found to eat; the ground seemed to her to be completely barren.“They get along,”he said.“There’s plenty here for them to eat, my word. This dry stuff in the tussocks, why, it’s just the same as hay.”He told her that there was a waterhole a little way from their track.“They never go more than three or four miles from water,”he said.“Horses, now—you’ll find them grazing up to twenty miles from a drink.”

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途中她看见三个毛茸茸的褐色身影在桉树间跳来跳去，大喊道：“快看，乔——袋鼠！”

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Once she exclaimed at three brown, furry forms bounding away among the trees.“Oh, Joe— kangaroos!”

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他纠正了她。“那是沙袋鼠。这些地区没有袋鼠。”

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He corrected her.“Wallabies. We don’t get any ’roos up in these parts.”

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她入迷地盯着那些飞速远去的影子。“沙袋鼠和袋鼠有什么区别，乔？”

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She stared after the flying forms, entranced.“What’s the difference between a wallaby and a kangaroo, Joe?”

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“沙袋鼠个头比较小，”他说，“大个头的雄袋鼠站起来有六英尺高，但沙袋鼠不会超过四英尺。袋鼠的脸像鹿，沙袋鼠的脸像兔子或者老鼠。我在牧场住宅养了一只沙袋鼠，待会儿给你看。”

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“A wallaby’s smaller,”he said.“A big, buck kangaroo, he’ll stand up to six feet high, but a wallaby’s not more than four. A kangaroo, he’s got a face like a deer. A wallaby, he’s got a face like a rabbit, or a rat. I got a little wallaby to show you at the homestead.”

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“野生的？”

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“A wild one?”

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“现在已经被驯化了。它长大后会变得很野，到时就会跑掉，去找同伴。”他告诉她，他们帮她射杀沙袋鼠以剥下样皮送去凯恩斯时，不慎射死了一只带着幼崽的母兽。与其放任这个毫无防御能力的小家伙死去，不如把它带回家抚养。“我喜欢在身边养一只沙袋鼠。”他说。

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“He’s a tame one now. He’ll get wild as he grows older; then he’ll go off to his own folks.”He told her that when they had shot the wallabies to send the sample skins to Cairns for her they had shot a doe with a joey, and rather than leave the small defenceless creature to die they had taken it home to rear.“I like a wallaby about the place,”he said.

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他们不久抵达米德赫斯特。用钢丝索做成的篱笆钉在树上，树木间距太大的地方有时会竖起一根柱子。横跨入口小路的篱笆上开了一扇铁门，门后面的小路看起来跟马路差不多。她下车开门让他开进去。“这是家用围场，”他说，“主要是用于把马围起来的。”她看见有很多马站在树下，都是瘦削的乘用马，长长的黑尾巴摇来摇去。“我像这样在房子四周大约围出了三平方英里的地方。”

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They came to Midhurst presently. A fence of two wire strands tacked to the trees, with an occasional post in the wider gaps, crossed their path, with an iron gate; beyond the gate the track became the semblance of a road. She got out of the utility and opened the gate and he drove through.“This is the home paddock,”he said.“For horses, mostly.”She could see horses standing underneath the trees, lean riding horses, swishing long black tails.“I’ve got about three square miles fenced off like this around the house.”

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路拐了一个大弯，她看见了米德赫斯特的牧场住宅。它很漂亮，坐落在一个矮山丘上，一条小河在山丘脚下蜿蜒而过。这条小河没有流水，但河道上有一连串的小水洼。“当然了，现在是它一年中最难看的时候。”他说。她意识到他的焦虑不安。“冬天的时候，它是一条很漂亮的小河，哦，老天。但即使是在旱季最糟糕的时候，像现在，河里也一直有水。”

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The road swung round, and she saw Midhurst homestead. It was prettily situated on a low hill above the bend of a creek; this creek was not running, but there were still pools of water held along its length.“Of course, you’re seeing it at the worst time of year,”he said, and she became aware of his anxiety.“It’s a lovely little river in the winter, oh my word. But even in the worst part of the dry, like now, there’s always water there.”

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牧场住宅是一座非常大的单层楼房，用柱子支撑着，高高地离开地面，必须爬八英尺高的楼梯才能踏上门廊和房子的地板。它是木建筑，毫无疑问也是用瓦楞铁做的屋顶。它有四个房间，三个卧室和一个起居室，房子四面都围着深十二英尺的门廊。门廊外缘有很多蕨类植物和其他各种青葱的花草，种在花盆中，或者摆在架子上，阻挡了大部分阳光的直射。在房子的一头附带建了一个厨房，另一头则有一个浴室。厕所是一个独立的小屋子，建在围场内的一个坑上，离房子有一段距离。显然，这座楼房里的大部分生活是在门廊上开展的，房间好像几乎没人使用。乔的床和蚊帐都放在门廊里，另外还有几张简易藤椅、一张餐桌和一些餐椅。椽上挂着一个大帆布水袋，在风里晾着，还绑了一根绳子，垂下来一个搪瓷马克杯。

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The homestead was a fairly large building that stood high off the ground on posts, so that you climbed eight feet up a flight of steps to reach the veranda and the one floor of the house. It was built of wood and had the inevitable corrugated iron roof. Four rooms, three bedrooms and one sitting-room, were surrounded on all four sides by a veranda twelve feet deep; masses of ferns and greenery of all sorts stood in pots and on stands on this veranda at the outer edge and killed most of the direct rays of the sun. There was a kitchen annexe at one end and a bathroom annexe at the other; the toilet was a little hut over a pit in the paddock, some distance from the house. Most of the life of the building evidently went on in the veranda and the rooms seemed to be little used; in the veranda was Joe’s bed and his mosquito net, and several cane easy chairs, and the dining-room tables and chairs. Suspended from the rafters was a large canvas waterbag cooling in the draft, with an enamelled mug hung from it by a string.

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越野车停在楼梯前，五六条狗兴高采烈地出来迎接他们。他把它们赶到一边，但指出一条蓝黄相间的大母狗给琴看。琴从未见过长成那样的狗。“那是莉莉，”他满怀感情地说，“她生了一窝很棒的小狗，哦，老天。”

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Five or six dogs greeted them noisily as the utility came to a standstill before the steps. He brushed them aside, but pointed out a large blue and yellow bitch like no dog Jean had ever seen before.“That’s Lily,”he said fondly.“She had a bonza litter, oh my word.”

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他把莉莉抱起来放到门廊的阴凉处。她转向他：“哦，乔！好可爱！”

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He took her up into the coolness of the veranda; she turned to him.“Oh Joe, this is nice!”

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“喜欢吗？”小狗涌到他们身旁，趴着舔他们的手。它们都是蓝黄相间的，模样古怪。在门廊边上，有一只小动物直挺挺地站在一张椅子后面，躲在角落里窥视他们。乔把小狗一只只拾起来，扔进角落的一个铁丝围栏里。“今天早上我开车去接你之前把它们放出来了。”他说，“它们很快就会长大到能够走下楼梯到院子里去了。”

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“Like it?”Puppies were surging about them, grovelling and licking their hands; odd-shaped yellow and blue puppies. Along the veranda a small animal stood erect behind a chair, peering at them around the corner. Joe took the puppies one by one and dropped them into a wire-netting enclosure in one corner.“I let them out this morning before driving in,”he said.“They’ll be big enough to go down in the yard pretty soon.”

28

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“乔，这些植物由谁来打理？是你吗？”

28

-

“Joe, who fixed up these plants? Did you?”

29

-

他摇摇头。“斯皮尔斯太太以前住在这里时自己负责打理。她搬走后，我就任它们继续长。土著早晚给它们浇水。”他告诉她，他有三个土著女仆，是他三个土著牧工的妻子，分担牧场住宅的家务活，并给他做饭。

29

-

He shook his head.“Mrs Spears did that, when she used to live here. I kept them going. The lubras water them, morning and evening.”He told her that he had three Abo women, wives of three of his stockriders, who shared the domestic duties of the homestead and cooked for him.

30

-

他四处张望。“那只幼崽应该就在附近。”他们在门廊另一头找到了那只蹦蹦跳跳的小沙袋鼠。它站着的样子像一只小型袋鼠，大约有十八英寸高，一点儿也不害怕他们。琴向它弯下腰去，它轻啃她的手指。“你喂它吃什么，乔？”

30

-

He looked around.“There’s the joey somewhere.”They found the little wallaby lolloping about on the other side of the veranda; it stood like a little kangaroo about eighteen inches high, and had no fear of them. Jean stooped beside it and it nibbled at her fingers.“What do you feed it on, Joe?”

31

-

“面包和牛奶。它吃得挺好。”

31

-

“Bread and milk. It’s doing fine on that.”

32

-

“小狗不会伤害它吗？”

32

-

“Don’t the puppies hurt it?”

33

-

“它们有时会追着它玩儿，但它会把它们踢开。一只成年沙袋鼠可以杀死一条狗，把它撕成碎片。”他顿了顿，定定地看着她轻抚这只小生物，觉得她迷人之极。“我只是在开玩笑，”他说，“其实它们相处得很好。等它和狗都渐渐长大一点后，它们可能会惹怒它，到时它就会逃回树林里去。”

33

-

“They chase it now and then, but it can kick all right. A full-grown wallaby can kill a dog. Rip him right up.”He paused, watching her caress the little creature, thinking how lovely she was.“It’s all in fun,”he said.“They get along all right. By and by when he gets bigger and the dogs are bigger he’ll get angry with them, and then he’ll go off into the bush.”

34

-

一个肥胖的中年土著出来摆桌子。她肤色很黑，容貌怪异。过了一会儿她又端来两盘毫不意外的双蛋盖牛排和一壶浓茶。琴此时已经适应了内地的早餐，但这块牛排比平时吃的都要硬。她一边挣扎着想把它吃下去，一边暗暗记住，一定要好好研究一番怎样在米德赫斯特做饭。最后她索性放弃了，笑着往后一坐。“对不起，乔，”她说，“我想也许因为我是英国人吧。”

34

-

A fat, middle-aged lubra, a black golliwog of a woman, laid the table and presently appeared with two plates of the inevitable steak with two eggs on the top, and a pot of strong tea. Jean had become accustomed to the outback breakfast by this time but this steak was tougher than most; she made mental notes to look into the Midhurst cooking as she struggled with it. In the end she gave up and sat back laughing.“I’m sorry, Joe,”she said.“It’s because I’m English, I suppose.”

35

-

他郑重其事地说：“多吃几个煎鸡蛋。你还什么都没吃呢。”

35

-

He was very much concerned.“Have a couple more fried eggs. You haven’t eaten anything.”

36

-

“我已经比在英国时多吃了五倍的早饭，乔。早饭是谁做的？”

36

-

“I’ve eaten six times as much as I ever ate in England for breakfast, Joe. Who does the cooking?”

37

-

“今天是棕榄做的，”他说，“她今天当值。玛丽比她做得好多了，但今天玛丽休息。”

37

-

“Palmolive did this,”he said.“It’s her day. Mary cooks much better, but it’s her day off.”

38

-

“她们是谁，乔？”

38

-

“Who are they, Joe?”

39

-

“我有一个叫月光的牧工，”他说，“棕榄是他老婆。我的土著首领叫布尔内维尔，他是个了不起的牧工。玛丽是他老婆。玛丽的饭做得不错。”

39

-

“I’ve got a ringer called Moonshine,”he said.“Palmolive’s his gin. My boss Abo, he’s called Bourneville; he’s a bonza boy. Mary’s his gin. Mary cooks all right.”

40

-

“告诉我，乔，”她说，“你有过消化不良吗？”

40

-

“Tell me, Joe,”she said,“do you ever get any indigestion?”

41

-

他咧嘴笑道：“不经常，只是偶尔一两次。”

41

-

He grinned.“Not very often. Just now and then.”

42

-

“如果我住进来之后要改变烹饪方式，你不会介意吧？”

42

-

“You won’t mind if I reorganize the cooking a bit when I come in?”

43

-

“只要不是你一个人把活儿都干完了就好。”他说。

43

-

“Not so long as you don’t do it all yourself,”he said.

44

-

“你不喜欢由我来做饭？”

44

-

“You wouldn’t like me to do that?”

45

-

他摇摇头。“我情愿看见你把更多时间留出来做自己喜欢的事情，像做鞋和开冰室之类的。”

45

-

He shook his head.“I’d rather see you keep time for the things you want to do, the shoes, and the ice-cream parlour, and that.”

46

-

她把手放在他的手上。“我想把时间留出来给你。”

46

-

She touched his hand.“I want to keep time for you.”

47

-

他趁白天热浪来袭之前带她出去，在牧场上转悠。尽管这个牧场占地一千平方英里，牧场住宅周围的楼房并不多，她之前在英国见过一个四百英亩的农场，上面的房子也不比这儿少。她看见三四座给牧工住的小木屋，每座顶多只有两个房间；两座单身木工的简易住房，白人和土著混住；一个用于停放卡车和越野车的棚子，里面堆放了很多机器零件；一个能容纳六匹马的空马厩；一个放马鞍的房间；还有一个屠宰间。她还看见一个用于驱动发电机和从小河泵水的柴油引擎。就只有这么多东西。

47

-

He took her out before the heat of the day and showed her the establishment. Although the property covered over a thousand square miles, there were no more buildings round the homestead than she had seen on a four-hundred-acre farm in England. There were three or four cottages of two rooms at the most, for stockmen; there were two small bunkhouses for unmarried ringers, white and black. There was a shed housing the truck and the utility and a mass of oddments of machinery. There was a stable for about six horses, which was empty, and a saddle-room, and a butcher’s room. There was a Diesel engine that drove an electric generator and pumped water from the creek. That was about all.

48

-

途中他说：“你会骑马吗？”

48

-

Once he said,“Can you ride a horse?”

49

-

她摇摇头。“恐怕不会，乔。在英国，普通人很少骑马。”

49

-

She shook her head.“I’m afraid not, Joe. Ordinary people don’t ride horses much in England.”

50

-

“哦，老天，”他说，“你应该能学会骑马。”

50

-

“Oh my word,”he said.“You should be able to do that.”

51

-

“我可以学吗？”

51

-

“Could I learn?”

52

-

“太对了。”

52

-

“Too right.”

53

-

他把手指摁在嘴唇上，像个学生那样吹了一个尖锐的口哨，一颗黑色的脑袋随之从一座独房小屋的窗户里伸了出来。“布尔内维尔！”他喊道，“出去把伯母和罗宾牵来，备好鞍。我马上下去帮你们。”

53

-

He put his fingers to his mouth like a schoolboy and blew a shrill whistle; a black head came poking out the window of a single-room cottage.“Bourneville,”he called.“Get out and bring in Auntie and Robin, ’n saddle up. I’ll be down to help you in a minute.”

54

-

他转向她，检查她的棉布连衣裙。“我不知道你该穿什么。你可以穿我的裤子。不会觉得难为情吧？”

54

-

He turned to her, surveying her cotton frock.“I dunno about your things. Could you get into a pair of my strides, or would you rather not?”

55

-

她笑道：“哦，乔，它们足足可以绕我两圈！”

55

-

She laughed.“Oh Joe, they’d go round me twice!”

56

-

“我不是总是这么胖的。”他说，“我有一条战前穿的裤子，现在穿不进去了。不贴身没关系，我们只是坐在马上慢慢走，让你体会一下那种感觉。”

56

-

“I wasn’t always as fat as this,”he said.“I got a pair I used to wear before the war, I can’t get into now. It doesn’t matter if they don’t fit right; we’ll only be walking the horses so you’ll see what it feels like.”

57

-

他把她带回牧场住宅，找出一件干净的男士衬衫、一条褪了色的骑马裤和一条皮带给她。她笑着从他那儿把衣物接过来，走进他的空房间穿上，还穿上了一双用松紧带绑边的薄底骑马靴。那靴子也是他的，穿在她的脚上太大了。全身上下都穿着他的衣服，感觉怪怪的，好像她成了他的私有财产。她小心翼翼地走下楼梯到院子里，感觉所有东西都要从她身上掉落。她想起了某个难忘的场合。

57

-

He took her up into the homestead and produced a clean man’s shirt and a faded pair of jodhpurs and a belt for her; she took them from him laughing, and went into his spare room and put them on, with a pair of his elastic-sided, thin-soled riding boots that were far too big for her. It gave her a queer feeling of possession to be dressed all in his clothes. She walked gingerly down into the yard with the feeling that everything was likely to fall off her, as it had done on another memorable occasion.

58

-

他扶她跨上马鞍。十四岁大的伯母脾气温顺，琴一坐好，不安全感马上烟消云散。他们为她调整好马镫，告诉她放脚的位置。一切到位后，她感到非常安全。那时的她几乎对马和马具一无所知，但这个马鞍跟她在英国见到的完全不同，甚至不曾在电影里见过。它呈弧形，座位前后都拱起来，坐上去就像坐在一个吊床里。马鞍从每条大腿上下方各伸出来一条长长的角状物，把她夹在适当的位置。“我相信任何人都不可能从这样一个马鞍上掉下去。”她说。

58

-

He helped her up into the saddle; once astride the patient fourteen-year-old Auntie the feeling of insecurity left her. They adjusted her stirrups and showed her how to set her foot; once she was fairly settled she felt very safe. She knew little about horses or saddlery at that time, but this saddle was like no saddle she had ever seen in England, even in a picture. It rose up in an arch high behind her seat and high in front of her, so that she was seated as in a hammock. There was a great horn that projected above each of her thighs and another one under each thigh, so that she was as if clamped into place.“I don’t believe that anyone could fall off from a saddle like this,”she said.

59

-

“你掉不下来。”他说。

59

-

“You aren’t meant to fall off,”he replied.

60

-

他们骑着马走出院子，沿着小路走到小河边。一边走，他一边教她如何抓稳缰绳和使用脚后跟。他带她沿着小河往北走了一英里左右，绕了一个大弯穿过树林，尽量在树荫里蜿蜒行进。途中她看见四个毛茸茸的黑影消失在树丛中，他告诉她那是野猪。他们经过一片铺满了睡莲的宽广水域时，一条短吻鳄看见了他们，匆忙潜入水中，搅起了猛烈的漩涡。她看见几只沙袋鼠从马的跟前跳开去。

60

-

They walked the horses out of the yard and down the track to the creek; as they went he showed her how to hold the reins and how to use her heels. He took her up the creek for about a mile and then by a wide circuit through the bush, winding beneath the trees so far as possible to seek the shade. Once she saw four scurrying black forms vanishing among the trees and he told her that these were wild pig, and once in a wide stretch of water covered with water lilies there was a violent swirl of water as an alligator dived away from them. She saw several wallabies bounding away before their horses.

61

-

一个多小时后，他们回到牧场住宅。尽管一路骑着马，酷热的太阳还是把琴晒得大汗淋漓，口渴难耐。她在门廊里喝了好几马克杯水，然后去浴室冲了个澡，换回自己凉快的衣服。

61

-

They returned to the homestead after an hour or so. Although they had walked the horses all the way Jean was drenched with sweat under the hot sun, and she had a raging thirst. In the veranda she drank several mugs of water, and then she went into the bathroom and had a shower, and changed back into her own cool clothes.

62

-

他们在门廊上吃午饭，牛排和面包果酱，如果再加上鸡蛋，就和早饭一模一样。“棕榄在做饭方面没有什么想象力。”他抱歉地说。

62

-

They lunched in the veranda on steak and bread and jam, a repeat of breakfast without the eggs.“Palmolive hasn’t got much imagination in the matter of tucker,”he said apologetically.

63

-

“她看起来很疲倦，”琴说，“眼底下有大大的黑眼圈儿。乔，下午让她休息吧，我来给你做晚饭。”

63

-

“She’s looking very tired,”Jean said.“Great black circles under her eyes. Give her the afternoon off, Joe. I’ll make tea for you.”

64

-

饭后，他让她到空房间的床上小憩，但他们过去两周都没怎么见面，把宝贵的相处时间用来睡觉似乎太浪费了。“让我们就在这里坐着吧，”她说，“如果我睡着了，乔，那也没办法。”于是他们把两张长长的藤椅拉到微风习习的门廊角落，紧紧依偎在一起，十指紧扣。“只有这两个月才热得这么难受。到一月份就开始凉快起来，然后就该下雨了。”

64

-

He offered her the use of the spare room bed to sleep on after lunch, but they had seen so little of each other in the last fortnight that the time seemed too precious to waste in sleep.“Let’s sit out here,”she said.“If I should go to sleep, Joe, it’ll be just one of those things.”So they pulled two of the long cane chairs to the corner of the veranda where there might be a little breeze, and sat together close, so that they could touch hands.“It’s not always as hot as this,”he said, still anxious for her approval of the place.“Just these two months are the bad ones. By January it’ll be beginning to cool off, when the rain gets properly under way.”

65

-

“还不算太难受，”她说，“我记得在马来亚的时候，有时也跟这里差不多一样热。”

65

-

“It’s not too bad,”she said.“I remember times when it was quite as hot as this in Malaya.”

66

-

她引他讲牛场上的工作。当天早上她对该地区的地势稍微有所了解，现在能够更好地理解他曾经跟她说过的一些话。“每年这个时候都没什么活，”他说，“这个时候，如果可以的话，我会每两周去一次牛场的北部边界，以防‘盗夫’。还要在那儿找一两个地方暗藏食物。看见那些矮小的牛时，就把它们射死。它们最不中用了。”

66

-

She led him on to tell her about his work on the station; having seen a little of the terrain that morning she felt she could appreciate what he told her better now.“There’s not a lot to do this time of year,”he said.“I like to get up to the top end of the station once a fortnight, if I can, in case of duffers. Make a cache or two of tucker up there, top, this time of year, and shoot the worst of the scrub bulls you see around.”

67

-

“‘盗夫’是什么，乔？”

67

-

“What’s a duffer, Joe?”

68

-

“哦，‘盗夫’就是指偷牛贼。今年他们不太猖狂。牧工有时候把牛群从约克角的牛场赶到朱利亚克里克——他们经过牛场的时候，会顺手牵走几头，混进自己的牛群里。当然了，那意味着要伪造烙印。在朱利亚有警察，在牛群上火车时会留心注意带有新烙印的牲口。他们两年前抓到了一个家伙，判了他六年。从那时起贼就少多了。嗯，现在麻烦的是‘迷盗小牛’。”

68

-

“Why, cattle duffers—cattle thieves. We’ve not had much of it this year. Sometimes the drovers coming down to Julia Creek from the Cape stations—they pick up a few as they go through the property and put them with the herd. It means faking the brands, of course, and there’s the police at Julia to keep an eye open for fresh-branded beasts as they go on the train. They caught a joker at it two years ago and he got six months. We’ve not had much since then. Poddy-dodging, now—well, that’s another matter.”

69

-

“什么是‘迷盗小牛’，乔？”她开始打瞌睡，但她想尽量了解更多事情。

69

-

“What’s poddy-dodging, Joe?”She was beginning to grow sleepy, but she wanted to know all she could.

70

-

“哦，小牛是指还没打烙印的幼崽，都是每次集合之后才出生的。牛场上有一些家伙，甚至包括你最好的朋友，会潜入你的牛场，围捕小牛后，把它们赶到自己的土地上。没有任何东西能证明那是你的牛。那就是‘迷盗小牛’。真是下作。当然了，由于没有篱笆，总是会有小牛越过边界，所以去集合的时候总会有一些混淆的。但在一些我工作过的牛场，在集合的季节，未打烙印的小牛几乎都不见了，都被其他牧场上的家伙偷走了。”

70

-

“Why, a poddy’s a cleanskin, a calf born since the last muster that hasn’t been branded. Some of these jokers, even your best friends, they’ll come on to your station and round up the poddys and drive them off on to their own land, and then there’s nothing to say they’re yours. That’s poddy-dodging, that is. It’s a fair cow. Of course, there’s always cattle crossing the boundaries because there aren’t any fences, so it’s a bit of a mix-up generally when you come to muster. But I’ve been on stations where there weren’t hardly any poddys there at all when we come to muster. All the jokers on the other stations had got them.”

71

-

她说：“但那些小牛愿意留在新的土地上吗？它们不会设法回到母亲身边吗？”

71

-

She said,“But do the poddys just stay on the new land? Don’t they want to go back to mother?”

72

-

他瞥了她一眼，很理解她为什么问这个问题。“没错——如果你放它们走，它们就会回到母亲身边。它们会马上回到自己的家园，找到原来的牛群，即使隔着五十英里远。但这些家伙这么做：他们在自己的土地上找个不起眼的地方修一个小畜栏，把你的小牛赶进去，把小牛关在里面四五天，不给吃不给喝——什么都不给它们。嗯，那样做的话，小牛就变得有点神智错乱了，忘掉原来的牛群和自己的母亲。它们只想喝一口水，跟你我一样。然后他们把小牛放出来，让小牛在一个水坑里喝个够。小牛口渴怕了，好几个月都不会离开那个水坑，把自己的家园忘得一干二净，只守着新家。”

72

-

He glanced at her, appreciating the question.“That’s right—they would if you let them. They’d go straight back to their own herd on their own land, even if it was fifty miles. But what these jokers do is this. They build a little corral on their land in some place where no one wouldn’t ever think to look, and they drive your poddys into it. Then they leave them there for four or five days without food or water—don’t give them nothing at all. Well, if you do that to a poddy he goes sort of silly and forgets about the herd, and mother. All he wants is a drink of water, same as you or I. Then you let him out and let him drink his fill at a waterhole. He’s had such a thirst he won’t leave that waterhole for months. He forgets all about his own place, and just stays in his new home.”

73

-

她闭上眼，睡着了。醒来的时候，夕阳西下，乔已经不在身边。她起身去浴室用海绵擦脸，看见他在外面修理卡车引擎。她把自己收拾整齐，看看表，然后去察看厨房。

73

-

Her eyes closed, and she slept. When she woke up the sun was lower in the sky, and Joe had left her. She got up and sponged her face in the bathroom, and saw him outside working on the engine of the truck. She tidied herself up, looked at her watch, and went to investigate the kitchen.

74

-

她想，用简陋来形容这个厨房再贴切不过了。里面有一个烧柴的炉子，幸好没有生火；还有一个点棉芯的油炉，就这些炊具。还有一个小小的煤油冰箱。一大堆煮熟的肉被存放在一个带金属网纱的食品橱里，里头的苍蝇和外头差不多一样多。厨房用具都是老式的，又脏又少。这个厨房简直是一个噩梦。琴觉得，正确的做法是把它烧掉后重新修建一个。她想知道这样做是不是连带着会把整座房子都烧掉。储存柜里也没什么东西，只有像面粉之类的主食，以及盐和肥皂。

74

-

Primitive was the word, she thought. There was a wood-burning hearth which mercifully was out, and a wick-burning oil stove; this was the cooking equipment. There was a small kerosene refrigerator. Masses of cooked meat were stored in a wire gauze meat safe with nearly as many flies inside it as there were outside. The utensils were old-fashioned and dirty and few in number; it was a nightmare of a kitchen. Jean felt that the right course would be to burn it down and start again, and she wondered if this could be done without burning down the house as well. There was little in the store cupboard but staple foods such as flour and salt and soap.

75

-

她把水壶放到炉子上，烧水泡茶，然后东翻西找，看看除了肉之外还有没有什么东西可以拿来做晚饭。米德赫斯特不缺鸡蛋，她还找到一些变质奶酪。她去咨询了一下乔，然后回到厨房，用了八个鸡蛋给他做了一个奶酪卷蛋饼。他洗干净手，看着她做饭。“哦，老天，”他说，“你在哪儿学的做饭？”

75

-

She put on the kettle to boil for tea and looked around for something to cook, other than meat. Eggs were plentiful at Midhurst and she found some stale cheese; she went and consulted Joe, and then came back and made him a cheese omelette with eight eggs. He cleaned his hands and came and watched her while she did it.“Oh my word,”he said.“Where did you learn cooking?”

76

-

“在伊令。”她说。那似乎离她非常遥远：灰色的天空，高大的红色公共汽车，还有地铁的喧闹声。“我有一个小厨房，里面有一个电磁炉。我总是给自己烧一顿有两道菜的晚饭。”

76

-

“In Ealing,”she said, and it all seemed very far away: the grey skies, the big red buses, and the clamour of the Underground.“I had a sort of little kitchenette with an electric cooker. I always used to cook myself a two-course evening meal.”

77

-

他窘迫地咧嘴笑道：“恐怕在内地找不到电磁炉。”

77

-

He grinned awkwardly.“Afraid you won’t find many electric cookers in the outback.”

78

-

她轻握他的手。“我知道呀，乔。但在这里，我们有很多办法使做饭变得容易一些。”他们一边吃晚饭一边谈论厨房和房子。“只有厨房需要重新布置，”她说，“其他地方都已经很漂亮了。”

78

-

She touched his hand.“I know that, Joe. But there are lots of things that could be done here to make it a bit easier.”As they ate their tea they talked about the kitchen and the house.“It’s just the kitchen that needs altering,”she said.“The rest of it is lovely.”

79

-

“在你住进来之前，我会在屋子里修一个厕所。”他向她承诺，“我到外头去上厕所没问题，但对你来讲不太好。”

79

-

“I’ll get a toilet fixed up in the house before you come,”he promised her.“It’s all right for me going out there, but it’s not nice for you.”

80

-

她笑道：“我不介意的，只要你能一直给我订《星期六晚报》。”他咧嘴一笑，但她发现他正坐在这份报纸上。“有些地方有化粪池，”他说，“他们在奥古斯塔斯修了一个，公爵和公爵夫人住在那里的时候。我想我们要等一阵子才能有一个。”

80

-

She laughed.“I don’t mind that, so long as you keep up the supplies of the Saturday Evening Post.”He grinned, but she found him set upon this alteration.“Some places have a septic tank and everything,”he said.“They put one in at Augustus when the Duke and Duchess stayed there. I reckon that we’ll have to wait a while for that.”

81

-

太阳下山时，他们坐着在门廊上吃晚饭，欣赏外面的风景，俯瞰小河和树林，安静地抽着烟谈话。“你们下周干什么？”她问道，“会去镇里吗，乔？”

81

-

They ate their tea out on the veranda as the sun went down, and sat looking out over the creek and the bush, smoking and talking quietly.“What are you doing next week?”she asked.“Will you be in town, Joe?”

82

-

他点点头。“我周四的时候会去，最迟周五去。我明天会去北部边界巡视几天，看看有没有什么特别情况。”

82

-

He nodded.“I’ll be in on Thursday, or Friday at the latest.“I’m going up to the top end tomorrow for a couple of days, just see what’s going on.”

83

-

她笑道：“去看住你的小牛？”

83

-

She smiled.“Looking after the poddys?”

84

-

他咧嘴笑道：“没错。现在是旱季，小牛的脚印不太好找。我的牛场上有一个叫金块的牧工，他可会找脚印了，哦，老天。我会带上他一起去。我总觉得温德米尔农场的唐·柯蒂斯对我的小牛虎视眈眈。”

84

-

He grinned.“That’s right. It’s a bit difficult this time of year, in the dry, because the tracks don’t show so good. I got a boy called Nugget on the station now, and he’s a bonza tracker, oh my word. I’m taking him up with me. I’ve got a kind of feeling that Don Curtis, up on Windermere station, he’s been at my poddys.”

85

-

“如果你发现了小牛的脚印一直从你的土地延伸至他的土地，那怎么办？”

85

-

“What would you do if you found tracks, then, Joe? Tracks leading off your land and on to his?”

86

-

他咧嘴而笑。“追踪它们，找到它们，把它们赶回去。”他说，“希望唐在我们这样做的时候不会出现。”

86

-

He grinned.“Go after ’em and find ’em and drive ’em back,”he said.“Hope Don doesn’t come along while we’re doing it.”

87

-

当天晚上大约九点的时候，他开车送她回威尔斯镇。他们在小镇外面停了一会儿，以恰到好处的方式道别。他用手臂环着她，她依偎在他肩头，听树林里的各种声响——蛙声、蛩鸣和夜莺的歌声。“你住的这个地方真迷人，乔，”她说，“只差一个新厨房了。我很喜欢它，你不必担心。”

87

-

He drove her into Willstown at about nine o’clock that night; they halted for a while outside the town to say goodnight in proper style. She lay against his shoulder with his arm around her, listening to the noises of the bush, the croaking of the frogs, the sound of crickets, and the crying of a night bird.“It’s a lovely place you live in, Joe,”she said.“It just wants a new kitchen, that’s all. Don’t ever worry about me not liking it.”

88

-

他吻她。“你搬进来的时候一切都会准备就绪的。”

88

-

He kissed her.“It’ll be all ready for you when you come.”

89

-

“四月，”她说，“四月初，乔。”

89

-

“April,”she said.“Early in April, Joe.”

90

-

十二月第一周，她的工厂开张了。三四天后，阿姬·托普抵达威尔斯镇。开始的时候，她请了五个姑娘：茱迪·斯莫尔和她的朋友洛伊丝·斯特朗，由于肚子越来越明显而被旅馆开除了的安妮和两个刚毕业的十五岁姑娘。琴要求她们工作时必须穿着绿色制服外套，一方面可以让她们看起来干净整洁，另一方面也能表明这是一份固定工作。琴还在墙上挂了一面镜子，让她们可以看到自己的模样。

90

-

She started up the shoe workshop in the first week of December, three or four days after Aggie Topp arrived. To start with she had five girls, Judy Small and her friend Lois Strang, and Annie, whose figure was beginning to deteriorate and who had been sacked from the hotel, and two fifteen-year-olds who had recently left school. For cleanliness and to mark the fact that they were working in a regular job she put everyone into a green overall coat in the workshop, and gave them a mirror on the wall so that they could see what they looked like.

91

-

她从一开始就发现那些十五岁的姑娘是最好的雇员。刚从学校毕业的姑娘能适应固定的工作时间，但来自内地家庭的女孩很难静下心来工作，适应能力不如她们。有些姑娘已经离开学校好几年了，有些甚至连学都没上过，她们非常厌烦这种单调乏味的工作。她从凯恩斯预订了一个带有自动更换唱片功能的留声机和一些唱片，试图给她们的工作增添一些乐趣。这些音乐自然激发了整个威尔斯镇的兴趣，给小镇带来了不少欢乐，并可能对年纪大一些的姑娘有一点帮助，尽管帮助不大。但工厂的主要吸引力来自空调。

91

-

From the first days she found that the fifteen-year-olds were the best employees. Girls straight from school were used to the discipline of regular hours of work; she seldom got the girls from outback homes to settle down to it so well as the younger ones. The monotony was irksome to the older girls who had left school for some years, or who had never been to school at all. She tried to help them by ordering an automatic changing gramophone from Cairns, with a supply of records; the music certainly intrigued and amused the whole of Willstown and may have helped the older girls a little, but not much. The big attraction of the workshop was the air-conditioner.

92

-

空调是最好的招聘广告。夏季炎热潮湿，午间气温高达一百到一百一十度。她设法把工厂的室内温度保持在七十度左右，这样姑娘们工作起来不会满手是汗。对于姑娘们来说，在工厂工作意味着能够暂时逃离阵阵热浪，穿上时髦的制服，舒舒服服地边工作边听音乐，以及在周末领到工资。工厂打从一开始就备受青睐，琴丝毫不必为招不满人而发愁。不过，在开头几个月，五个就很足够了。

92

-

The air-conditioner was the best recruiting agent of the lot. In that torrid summer heat which ranged from between a hundred and a hundred and ten degrees at midday, she managed to keep the temperature of the workshop down to about seventy degrees, at which the girls could work without their hands sweating. For the girls it meant that they got respite from the heat of the day, and music to listen to, and the novelty of a clean green overall to wear, and money in their pockets at the end of the week. The workshop was popular from the first, and Jean never had any difficulty in getting as many recruits for it as she could handle. For the early months, however, she was content with five.

93

-

工厂开业后，她花了两周时间，紧张忙碌地装修冰室和购进存货。她决心要赶在圣诞前开始营业，并成功地在12月20日实现了目标。她接受了乔的建议，先将一半计划付诸实践，专供土著消费的冰室暂缓开张，等他们确有这方面的需求再说。这省却了她雇用一个非白人姑娘的工资和装潢冰室的费用。实际上，差不多一年之后，土著对冰淇淋的需求量才上升了。土著牧工开始挤在厨房门后购买冰淇淋汽水。第二年九月，土著冰室开张了。

93

-

She spent a hectic fortnight after the workshop opened getting the ice-cream parlour furnished and stocked. She was resolved to have this open by Christmas Day, and she achieved her aim by opening on December 20th. On Joe’s advice she only opened half of it at first, leaving the parlour for the Abos till it was established that they wanted ice-cream. This saved her the wages of a coloured girl and the expense of furnishing. In fact, it was not for nearly a year that the demand arose and abo ringers started hanging round the kitchen door to buy an ice-cream soda. She opened the coloured annexe in the following September.

94

-

第一家冰室开张那天下午，她和乔一起头顶烈日站在大街上，欣赏她的工作成果。冰室和工厂在主街道上几乎并排而立。工厂门窗紧闭，以免走漏冷气，但他们仍然可以听到姑娘们边做鞋边唱歌。圣诞节临近，她们在唱颂歌——《神圣夜》、《仁君温瑟拉》和《冬雪里的风景》。衬衫黏住了她的背部，她挪动肩头透气。“嗯，该建的都建好了，”她说，“现在就要看它们能不能挣钱了。”

94

-

She stood with Joe outside in the blazing sunlit street on that first afternoon, looking at what she had done. The workshop and the ice-cream parlour stood more or less side by side on the main street. The windows of the workshop were closed to keep the cool air in, but they could hear the girls singing as they worked over the shoes. Christmas was near, and they were singing carols —“Holy Night”, and“Good King Wenceslas”, and“See Amid the Winter Snow”. The shirt was sticking to Jean’s back and she shifted her shoulders to get a little air inside.“Well, there it all is,”she said.“Now we’ve got to see if we can make it pay.”

95

-

“来，我请你喝杯汽水，”他说，“给你捧捧场。”他们走进冰室，从柜台后面的露丝·索耶那儿买了一杯汽水。“冰室肯定能挣钱。”他说，“我不知道工厂怎么样，但冰室应该没问题。我之前和乔治·康纳在旅馆谈话，你的冰室开张后，他非常担心酒吧的生意。”

95

-

“Come on and I’ll buy you a soda,”he said.“That’ll help.”They went in and bought a soda from Rose Sawyer behind the counter.“This part of it’ll pay,”he said.“I don’t know about the shoes, but this should do all right. I was talking to George Connor up at the hotel. He’s getting very worried about his bar, with you starting up.”

96

-

“我不明白他有什么好担心的，”她说，“我又不打算卖啤酒。”

96

-

“I don’t see why he’s got anything to worry about,”she said.“I’m not going to sell beer.”

97

-

“但你打算向牧工卖饮料。”他说，“如果别人也开一个冰室跟你抢生意，你肯定会生气吧？”

97

-

“You’re going to sell drinks to ringers,”he remarked.“If you had a bar instead of this, wouldn’t it rile you?”

98

-

她笑道：“我想我会气个半死。但我觉得我不会抢光酒吧的生意，乔。”

98

-

She laughed.“I suppose it would. I can’t see myself putting the bar out of business, Joe.”

99

-

“不管怎样，我觉得你会做得不错。”他们坐在铬玻璃顶小桌子旁边，彼特·弗莱彻扭扭捏捏地走进来，不声不响地到柜台前点了一个冰淇淋，并开始和露丝·索耶搭话。乔说：“可怜的老乔治·康纳。”两人会心一笑，他接着说：“我敢打赌露丝顶多能在这儿干六个月。”

99

-

“I can see you doing all right, all the same.”As they sat at the little chromium glass-topped table, Pete Fletcher came in shyly and sidled up to the bar and ordered an ice-cream, and began chatting with Rose Sawyer. Joe said,“Poor old George Connor.”They laughed together, and then he said,“I bet you don’t keep Rose six months.”

100

-

琴上个月经常和露丝·索耶见面。“我跟你打赌，”她说，“赌一英镑，她从现在起一年之内还会在这儿，乔。”他们按照当地规矩握手成交。“如果你赢了，”他说，“就真是奇迹。”

100

-

Jean had seen a good deal of Rose Sawyer in the last month.“I’ll take you,”she said.“Bet you a quid she’s still there in a year from now, Joe.”They shook hands on it according to the custom of the place.“If she is,”he said,“it’ll be a miracle.”

101

-

现在生意已经顺利开张，她却累坏了。烈日炎炎，她无精打采，精疲力竭。她想晚上跟乔去米德赫斯特，在那里安安静静地住一两天，睡睡觉，骑骑马，和小沙袋鼠一起玩耍。但一种审慎的本能警告她，千万别以此等孟浪行为触犯当地的乡下道德准则。如果她希望自己已经着手为当地女性所做的一切取得成功，她自己的行为一定要在道德上无可指责。她知道，如果内地的母亲们知道她在米德赫斯特和乔·哈曼过夜，她们是不会愿意把女儿交到她手里的。如果老板娘言行有失检点，已婚男人也不会愿意把自己的妻子和女儿带去她的冰室消费。

101

-

Now that the businesses were started, she was very tired; she felt slack and listless in the great heat, drained of all energy. She would have liked to go out with Joe to Midhurst that evening and live quietly there for a day or two, sleeping and riding and playing with the little wallaby. A cautionary instinct warned her not to offend against the rural code of morals by an indiscretion of that sort; if she was to make a success of what she had set out to do for women in that place her own behaviour would have to be above reproach. No mothers in the outback, she knew, would care to let their daughters work for her if it were known that she was spending nights alone at Midhurst with Joe Harman; no married man would care to bring his wife and daughters to an ice-cream parlour run by a loose woman of that sort.

102

-

那是一个周三，但周日对琴来说已经不再是一个休息日，因为周日很可能是冰淇淋和软饮料最畅销的日子。她跟乔说好，黎明时分他去旅馆接她，带她去米德赫斯特玩一天。她向他道别，一等工厂下班马上回到自己的房间，中途只停下来看了一眼从工厂出来去冰室吃甜点的姑娘们。她一进房间就一头倒在床上，精疲力竭，累得连晚饭都没吃。工厂里的空气清新凉爽，因为空调整天开着。她换上睡衣，在凉快的房间里蒙头大睡。她就这样睡了十二个小时。

102

-

It was a Wednesday, but Sunday was no longer an off day for Jean since it was likely to be the biggest day of all for the ice-cream and soft drinks. She arranged with Joe that he should call for her at the hotel soon after dawn and take her out to Midhurst for the day. She said goodbye to him and went to her room as soon as work stopped in the workshop, pausing only to see the girls from the workshop sampling the ice-cream parlour. She went and lay down on her bed, exhausted and too tired to eat that night; it was refreshingly cool in the workshop building, for the air-conditioner had been on all day. She took off her clothes and put on her pyjamas, and slept in the coolness; she slept so for twelve hours.

103

-

自从那个周日之后，她又到米德赫斯特玩了几次，在邓肯先生的商店给自己买了一条牧工骑马裤，打算骑马的时候穿，还买了一双用松紧带绑边的牧工骑马靴来配它。她一大早出来跟乔会合，胳膊底下夹着一小捆骑马用具，和他一起上了越野车。像往常一样，他们把车开到镇子外面后就停下来谈情说爱。他抱着她问道：“你今早感觉怎么样？”

103

-

She had been out to Midhurst several times since that first visit and had fitted herself out with a small pair of ringer’s trousers in Bill Duncan’s store for riding, with a pair of elastic-sided ringer’s riding boots to match. She met Joe in the early morning with a little bundle of riding things under her arm, and got into the utility with him. As usual they drove a little way out of town and stopped for an exchange of mutual esteem; as he held her he asked,“How are you feeling this morning?”

104

-

她笑道：“我现在好多了，乔。我想，终于顺利开张了，可以暂时松一口气。我一离开你就上床睡觉了，睡死过去，睡了整整十二个小时。我现在感觉很好。”

104

-

She smiled.“I’m better now, Joe. It was the reaction, I suppose—getting it finished and open. I went to bed just after leaving you and slept right through. Twelve solid hours. I’m feeling fine.”

105

-

“今天好好放松一下。”他说。

105

-

“Take things very easy today,”he said.

106

-

她轻抚他的头发。“亲爱的乔。从现在开始，一切都会越来越顺利。”

106

-

She stroked his hair,“Dear Joe. It’s going to be much easier from now on.”

107

-

“这种鬼天气很快就会结束，”他说，“这周之内就会开始下雨，然后就开始凉快了。”

107

-

“This bloody weather’ll break soon,”he said.“We’ll get rain starting within the week, and after that it’ll begin to get cool.”

108

-

过了一会儿，他们驾车继续前进。“乔，”她说，“我这周和银行经理吵了一大架——沃特金斯先生。你听说了吗？”

108

-

They drove on presently.“Joe,”she said,“I had an awful row this week with the bank manager— Mr Watkins. Did you hear about it?”

109

-

他咧嘴一笑。“我确实听到了一些传言，”他承认，“但到底发生了什么事？”

109

-

He grinned.“I did hear something,”he admitted.“What really happened?”

110

-

“都怪那些苍蝇，”她说，“周五那天太热了，我又太累了。我走进那个令人痛苦的小银行，想兑现工资支票。你也知道，那里总是飞满了苍蝇，我又必须等一会儿才能办事。苍蝇在我全身上下爬来爬去，在我的头发里、嘴巴里和眼睛里。我想我当时汗流浃背，没控制住自己的脾气，乔。我错了。”

110

-

“It was the flies,”she said.“It was so hot on Friday, and I was so tired. I went into that miserable little bank to cash the wages cheque and you know how full of flies it always is. I had to wait a few minutes and the flies started crawling all over me, in my hair and in my mouth and in my eyes. I was sweating, I suppose. I lost my temper, Joe. I oughtn’t to have done that.”

111

-

“那个银行真是糟糕透顶。”他说，“真是的，怎么会有那么多苍蝇呢？你说什么了？”

111

-

“It’s a crook place, that bank is,”he observed.“There’s no reason why it should have all those flies. What did you say?”

112

-

“什么都说了，”她坦白道，“我告诉他，我要取消账户，因为我无法忍受他那些该死的苍蝇；我说我要去凯恩斯的银行开户，每周坐空中列车去凯恩斯取现金。我说我要写信到他的悉尼总部，告诉他们为什么我要这么做；我说我要写信到新南威尔士银行，如果他们在这里开一个没有苍蝇的支行，我就在他们银行开户；我说我用敌敌畏喷雾，我的工厂里就没有苍蝇，我也无法容忍在我的银行里有苍蝇。我说他应该给威尔斯镇树立一个榜样，而不是……”她停住了。

112

-

“Everything,”she said simply.“I told him I was closing my account because I couldn’t stand his bloody flies. I said I was going to bank in Cairns and get the cash in by Dakota every week. I said I was going to write to his head office in Sydney and tell them why I’d done it, and I said I was going to write to the Bank of New South Wales and offer my account to them if they’d start up a branch here with no flies. I said I used a DDT spray and I didn’t get flies in my workshop and I wasn’t going to have them in my bank. I said he ought to be setting an example to Willstown instead of...”She stopped.

113

-

“而不是什么？”他问。

113

-

“Instead of what?”he asked.

114

-

她虚弱地说：“我忘记自己说什么了。”

114

-

She said weakly,“I forgot what I did say.”

115

-

他直直盯着前方的路。“我确实在酒吧里听到别人说，你告诉他，他应该树立起一个好榜样，而不是傻坐在那儿挠屁股。”

115

-

He stared straight ahead at the track.“I did hear in the bar you told him he ought to set an example instead of sitting on his arse and scratching.”

116

-

“哦，乔，我不可能说了那样的话！”

116

-

“Oh, Joe, I couldn’t have said that!”

117

-

他咧嘴笑道：“威尔斯镇的人就是这么跟我说的。”

117

-

He grinned.“That’s what they’re saying that you told him, in Willstown.”

118

-

“哦……”他们默默地往前开了一段路。“我周五去找他道歉，”她说，“在那种地方吵架可不太好。”

118

-

“Oh...”They drove on in silence for a time.“I’ll go in on Friday and apologize,”she said.“It’s no good making quarrels in a place like this.”

119

-

“我不明白你为什么要道歉，”他反对道，“应该是他向你道歉才对。毕竟你才是客户啊。”他顿了顿，“我周五先去那儿看看他怎么样，”他建议道，“我知道周六的时候他买了十加仑的敌敌畏喷雾，阿尔·伯恩斯告诉我的。”

119

-

“I don’t see why you should apologize,”he objected.“It’s up to him to apologize to you. After all, you’re the customer.”He paused.“I’d go in there on Friday and see how he’s getting on,”he advised.“I know he got ten gallons of DDT spray on Saturday, because Al Burns told me.”

120

-

他们到达米德赫斯特后，他马上让她坐在门廊角落的一张长凳上，并用冰箱里的冷水给她做了一杯柠檬茶。他命令她定定地坐在原地吃早饭，亲自用托盘端了一杯茶、一个水煮鸡蛋和一些黄油面包给她。她坐在那里，身心放松，任倦意肆意扩散，任他体贴地在身边为自己忙前忙后，感到心满意足。天变热时，他提议她去空房间的床上躺下，把房间两头的双层门打开通风。他咧嘴笑着向她承诺，他经过门廊时保证不往里偷看。她相信了他，在空房间里几乎脱得一丝不挂，躺倒在床上，在炎热的中午昏昏睡去。

120

-

When they got to Midhurst he made her go at once and sit in a long chair at the corner of the veranda with a glass of lemon squash made with cold water from the refrigerator. He would not let her move for breakfast, but brought her a cup of tea and a boiled egg and some bread and butter on a tray. She sat there, relaxed, with the fatigue soaking out of her, content to have him gently fussing over her. When the day grew hot he suggested that she took the spare bedroom and lay down upon the bed leaving the double doors open at each end of the room to get the draught through; he promised, grinning, not to look if he passed along the veranda. She took him at his word and took off most of her clothes in the spare room and lay down on the bed and slept through the midday heat.

121

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她醒来时已经差不多四点了，她感到凉快清新，轻松自在，精力充沛。她继续躺了一会儿，疑心他也许偷窥了。然后她起来套上连衣裙去洗澡，在温暖的水流下洗了很久。不久，她容光焕发地到门廊上寻找他，对他的宽容大度充满感激。她发现他坐在地板上，用棕榈叶、针和蜡线修补一个马勒。她俯身吻他，说：“多谢你所做的一切，乔。我睡得很舒服。”然后她说，“我们吃完饭可以去骑马吗？”

121

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When she woke up it was nearly four o’clock and she was cool and rested and at ease. She lay for a while wondering if he had looked; then she got up and slipped her frock on and went to the shower, and stood for a long time under the warm stream of water. She came to him presently on the veranda, fresh and rested and full of fondness for him in his generosity, and found him squatting on the floor mending a bridle with palm, needle, and waxed thread. She stooped and kissed him, and said,“Thanks for everything, Joe. I had a lovely sleep.”And then she said,“Can we go riding after tea?”

122

-

“还是有点儿热，”他说，“你想去骑马吗？”

122

-

“Still a bit hot,”he said.“Think that’s a good thing?”

123

-

“我想去，”她说，“我想学会骑马的正确方法。”

123

-

“I’d like to,”she said.“I want to be able to sit on a horse properly.”

124

-

他说：“你上一次骑得挺好的。”她这次的坐骑升级了，从十四岁的伯母变成精力更加充沛的萨利。她开始慢慢学会如何骑马小跑。她发现，在那种气候里骑马小跑，人流的汗比马还要多，并且令她肌肉酸疼，第二天弯腰坐下来都困难。但她知道这种锻炼对她有好处。在这个年纪才开始学习骑马，她永远成不了一个好骑师。但她还是决心要具备骑马的能力，因为马在这个地区是很重要的交通工具。

124

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He said,“You did all right last time.”She had been promoted from the fourteen-year-old Auntie to the more energetic Sally and she was gradually learning how to trot. She found that trotting in that climate made her sweat more than the horse and made it difficult for her to sit down next day, but the exercise, she knew, was good for her. Starting at her age, she would never be a very good rider, but she was determined to achieve the ability to do it as a means of locomotion in that country.

125

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他们那晚骑了一个半小时，暮色初降时回到米德赫斯特。他不允许她继续留在外面，尽管她并不急着回去。“我现在一点儿也不累，”她说，“我好像找到了窍门，乔。骑萨利比骑伯母轻松多了。”

125

-

They rode for an hour and a half that evening, coming back to Midhurst in the early dusk. He would not let her stay out longer than that, though she wanted to.“I’m not a bit tired now,”she said.“I believe I’m getting the hang of this, Joe. It’s much easier on Sally than it was on Auntie.”

126

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“是的，”他说，“马越好，骑手就越轻松，只要你能驾驭它。”

126

-

“Aye,”he said.“The better the horse the less tiring for the rider, long as you can manage him.”

127

-

“我希望有一天能跟你去北部边界，”她说，“不过我想要等我们结婚之后。”

127

-

“I’d like to come with you one day up to the top end,”she said.“I suppose it’ll have to be after we’re married.”

128

-

他咧嘴笑道：“如果你结婚之前就跟我去，威尔斯镇那些老古板肯定会说个没完。”

128

-

He grinned.“Plenty of wowsers back in Willstown to talk about it, if you came before.”

129

-

“以我现在的水平，可以跟你去了吗？”

129

-

“Do I ride well enough for that?”

130

-

“哦，是的，”他说，“只要你放松下来，就能舒舒服服地坐在萨利背上。我白天从来不会骑行超过二十英里，即使有特别的理由也不会。”

130

-

“Oh, aye,”he said.“Take it easy and you’ld get along all right on Sally. I never travel more than twenty miles in the day, not unless there’s some special reason.”

131

-

他开越野车送她回威尔斯镇。他们互吻晚安时，他说他下周会进镇一趟。她那晚上床时，但觉神清气爽，清静的一天使她彻底恢复了精神。

131

-

He drove her into Willstown in the utility, and as they kissed goodnight he said that he would be in during the following week. She went to bed that night rested and content, refreshed by her quiet day.

132

-

她周五照常去银行兑现工资支票。她发现人们正在重新粉刷墙壁，银行里连一只苍蝇也看不见。沃特金斯先生在一旁忙自己的事情，没理会她。年轻的银行办事员莱恩·詹士把钱递给她，笑得合不拢嘴，还向她使眼色。她周六下午又看见了莱恩，他带多丽丝·纳什进冰室买冰淇淋汽水。他向她露齿而笑，说：“银行焕然一新了吧，佩吉特小姐？”

132

-

She went to the bank on Friday and cashed the wages cheque as usual; she found that the walls were in the process of being distempered and there was not a fly in the place. Mr Watkins was distant in his manner and ignored her; Len James, the young bank clerk, gave her her money with a broad grin and a wink. She saw Len again on Saturday afternoon, when he brought in Doris Nash for an ice-cream soda. He grinned at her, and said,“You wouldn’t know the bank, Miss Paget.”

133

-

“我昨天去那里了，”她说，“你们正在重新粉刷墙壁。”

133

-

“I was in there yesterday,”she said.“You’re having it all distempered.”

134

-

“没错，”他说，“多得你仗义执言。”

134

-

“That’s right,”he said.“You started something.”

135

-

“他是不是很生气？”

135

-

“Is he very sore?”she asked.

136

-

“实际上并没有，”那男孩儿说，“他早就想把银行重新装饰一番了，但又担心总部有意见。银行在这种地方没什么生意。嗯，现在他终于付诸行动了。”

136

-

“Not really,”the boy said.“He’s been wanting to decorate for a long tune, but he’s been scared of what the head office would say. There’s not a lot of turnover in a place like this, you know. Well, now he’s doing it.”

137

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“我很抱歉，我太鲁莽了。”她说，“有机会的话，请代我向他道歉。”

137

-

“I’m sorry I was rude,”she said.“If you get a chance, tell him I said that.”

138

-

“我会的。”他向她承诺，“你说得真好，我们好久没笑得那么痛快了。其实我也讨厌那些苍蝇。”

138

-

“I will,”he promised her.“I’m glad you were. Haven’t had such a laugh for years. I don’t like flies, either.”

139

-

冰室开张的第一个周日，她和露丝·索耶一起一直从早上九点工作到晚上十点。她们售出了一百八十二个冰淇淋，每个一先令，以及三百四十一杯软饮料，每杯六便士。打烊后，精疲力竭的琴在收银机旁数钱。“十七镑十三先令，”她说，一边有点不敢相信地望着露丝，“对于一个一共只有一百四十六人的小镇来说还真不少。人均花了多少钱？”

139

-

On the first Sunday she worked steadily in the ice-cream parlour with Rose Sawyer from nine in the morning till ten o’clock at night. They sold a hundred and eighty-two ice-creams at a shilling each and three hundred and forty-one soft drinks at sixpence. Dead tired, Jean counted the money in the till at the end of the day.“Seventeen pounds thirteen shillings,”she said. She stared at Rose in wonder.“That doesn’t seem so bad for a town with a hundred and forty-six people, all told. How much is that a head?”

140

-

“大概两先令六便士吧，是不是？”

140

-

“About two and six, isn’t it?”

141

-

“你觉得生意会一直这么兴隆吗？”

141

-

“Do you think it’s going to go on like this?”

142

-

“为什么不呢？今天还有很多人没来呢。今天的客人几乎都光顾了两到三次，茱迪肯定花了有十先令。”

142

-

“I don’t see why not. Lots of people didn’t come in today. Most of them come in two or three times. Judy must have had about ten bob’s worth.”

143

-

“她会消化不良的。”她说，“她会生病，那样就没人来光顾我们了。走，回去睡觉吧。”

143

-

“She can’t keep that up,”Jean said.“She’ll be sick, and we’ll get a recession. Come on and let’s go to bed.”

144

-

圣诞节那天，冰室在午饭时间后开始营业，下午和晚上一共赚了二十镑。那天晚上，她把留声机从工厂搬到冰室，播放舞曲，音乐和彩光从冰室的木缝里流淌而出，驱散了主街道的荒寂和黑暗。在居民眼中，就仿佛曼利海滩的一块碎片蓦然掉落在威尔斯镇。一些年老色衰的女人被音乐和彩光吸引，突然冒了出来，带着同样衰老的男人一起走进冰室喝冰淇淋汽水。尽管冰室仍然挤满了人，她于十点准时打烊。她认为最好从一开始就坚决执行原定的打烊时间，不要让这个乡村社区沾染上熬夜的坏习惯。

144

-

She opened the ice-cream parlour after lunch on Christmas Day and took twenty pounds in the afternoon and evening. She had the gramophone from the workshop in the parlour that evening playing dance music so that the little wooden shack that was her ice-cream parlour streamed out music and light into the dark wastes of the main street, and seemed to the inhabitants just like a bit of Manly Beach dropped down in Willstown. Old, withered women that Jean had never seen before came in that night with equally old men to have an ice-cream soda, drawn by the lights and by the music. Although the parlour was still full of people she closed punctually at ten o’clock, thinking it better as a start to stick to the bar closing time and not introduce the complication of late hours and night life into a rural community.

145

-

工厂在阿姬的监督下运作平稳。圣诞刚结束，她们就运送了两木箱皮鞋去福赛斯，通过铁路运到布里斯班，再通过轮船运往英国。她之前已经用航空邮件给帕克和利维公司寄去了一些样本。

145

-

The workshop went fairly steadily under Aggie Topp and they despatched two packing-cases of shoes to Forsayth just after Christmas to be sent by rail to Brisbane and by ship to England. She had already sent a few early samples of their work to Pack and Levy by air mail.

146

-

雨季在节礼日那天降临。之前有过一两次短时阵雨，但那天大块大块的云聚集起来，形成高高的积雨云山峰，覆满了整个天空，以致天昏地暗。然后下起了瓢泼大雨，银河倒泻一般下个不停。刚开始的时候，气温并没有下降，湿度却变得非常大，感觉比旱季更糟糕。工厂里即使只有七十度，姑娘们依然汗流如注，阿姬·托普不得不推迟最后的工序，集中精力完成制鞋初期那些精密程度较低的工序。

146

-

On Boxing Day the rain came. They had had one or two short showers before, but that day the clouds massed high in great peaks of cumulonimbus that spread and covered the whole sky so that it grew dark. Then down it came, a steady, vertical torrent of rain that went on and on, unending. At first the conditions became worse, with no less heat and very high humidity; in the workshops the girls sweated freely even at seventy degrees, and Aggie Topp had to postpone the finishing operations and concentrate on the earlier, less delicate stages of the manufacture of shoes.

147

-

新年后不久，琴跟乔去米德赫斯特玩了一天。像往常一样，他破晓时分就来接她。这是一个风雨如晦的黎明，非常炎热。她迅速从房间门口跑上越野车的驾驶室。到那个时候，她已经习惯了一会儿浑身湿透，一会儿又干透，如此反复。雨水的温度和体温差不多，患伤风的机会微乎其微。她上车时说：“小河现在都变成什么样了，乔？”

147

-

Jean went with Joe to Midhurst for a day soon after the New Year; as usual he called for her just after dawn. This time it was a grey dawn of hot, streaming rain; she scuttled quickly from the door of her room into the cab of the utility. By that time she was getting used to being wet through to the skin, and drying, and getting wet again; the water as it fell was nearly blood temperature and the chance of a chill was slight. She said as she got into the car,“What are the creeks like, Joe?”

148

-

“正在上涨，”他说，“现在还没有什么好担心的。”不久就无法从米德赫斯特开车去威尔斯镇了。这种状况要持续几周，如果他们一定要见面，他只能骑马去。他过去一两周一直在给牧场住宅储备食物。

148

-

“Coming up,”he said.“Nothing to worry over yet.”A time would come when for a few weeks he would be unable to reach Willstown from Midhurst in the utility, and would have to ride in if they were to meet at all. He had been stocking up with foodstuffs for the homestead in the last week or two.

149

-

威尔斯镇和米德赫斯特之间有两条小河，河底很宽，满是沙子和大石块。旱季时，干枯的河道又热又荒芜，现在却变成了两条宽阔的黄色河流，奔流的河水浑浊不堪，让她心生恐惧。车子开到第一条小河的岸边时，她说：“我们能过去吗，乔？”

149

-

There were two creeks between Willstown and Midhurst, wide bottoms of sand and boulders that she knew as hot, arid places in the dry. Now they were wide streams of yellow, muddy water, rather terrifying to her. At the first one she said,“Can we get through that, Joe?”

150

-

“没问题，”他说，“只有一英尺深。你看见那儿那棵树了吗？有一根树枝垂下来的那棵。那根树枝被淹没时，水就有点儿深了。”

150

-

“That’s all right,”he said.“It’s only a foot deep. You see that tree there with the overhanging branch? When that branch gets covered, at the fork, it’s a bit deep then.”

151

-

他们开着越野车艰难地涉水而行，在另一边上了岸。他们以同样的方式涉水经过了第二条小溪。他们像往常一样按时抵达牧场住宅吃早饭。依旧大雨滂沱，无法开展任何户外活动。他们早饭后开始设计新厨房和他决心一定要修好的厕所。

151

-

They drove the utility ploughing through the water and emerged the other side; they forded the second creek in the same way, leaping from boulder to boulder, and went on to Midhurst. They got there as usual in time for breakfast. It was still streaming rain down in a steady torrent, too wet for any outdoor activity. They set to work after breakfast to plan out the new kitchen and the toilet he had set his heart on.

152

-

那天早晨，在他们西边四百英里处的凯恩斯，杰奎琳·培根小心翼翼地在雨中走过人行道，从家去凯恩斯急救中心和消防站。她匆忙从消防车中穿过，把伞上的雨水抖掉。她向其中一个当值的消防员说：“老天，这雨下的。”

152

-

In Cairns that morning, four hundred miles to the west of them, Miss Jacqueline Bacon tripped delicately down the pavement in the rain from her home to the Cairns Ambulance and Fire Station. She wore a blue raincoat and she carried an umbrella. She hurried in between the fire engines, and shook the rain from her umbrella. She said to one of the firemen on duty,“My, isn’t it wet?”

153

-

他吮吸着空烟斗，盯着外面的雨。“对鸭子们来讲，还真是好天气啊。”

153

-

He sucked his empty pipe and stared out at the rain.“Fine weather for ducks.”

154

-

闪闪发亮的消防车停放在主楼里，她走进她在主楼外面的小办公室。她扫了一眼挂钟，还有三分钟时间。那个房间有一张桌子，桌上摆着一个麦克风和一叠小书写纸。屋子里还有两台高高的无线电装置。书写纸前面放着一组操作仪器。她把无线电装置的三个开关打开，启动机器，脱下湿答答的大衣和帽子。然后她拿起铅笔，把书写纸拉到面前，再拉过来一张卡片，卡片上面有一长串通信呼号和牛场名字。她坐下来，开始每日的常规工作。

154

-

She went into her little office off the main hall where the gleaming fire engines stood and glanced at the clock; she had still three minutes to go. The room was furnished with a table and with a microphone and a writing-pad, and two tall metal cabinets of wireless gear; a set stood on the table before her pad. She turned three switches for the apparatus to warm up and took off her wet coat and her hat. Then she found her pencil and drew the pad to her, and a card with a long list of call signs and stations on it. She sat down and began her daily work.

155

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她转动一个在她面前的旋钮，说：“第八区泰尔面包师，第八区泰尔面包师，第八区查理女王呼叫第八区泰尔面包师。第八区泰尔面包师，第八区泰尔面包师，第八区查理女王呼叫第八区泰尔面包师。第八区泰尔面包师，如果你听到第八区查理女王的呼叫，请回话。报文完，请回复！”她又转动了一下旋钮。

155

-

She turned a switch on the face of the cabinet before her and said,“Eight Baker Tare, Eight Baker Tare, this is Eight Queen Charlie calling Eight Baker Tare. Eight Baker Tare, Eight Baker Tare, this is Eight Queen Charlie calling Eight Baker Tare. Eight Baker Tare, if you are receiving Eight Queen Charlie will you please come in. Over to you. Over.”She turned the switch.

156

-

她面前的扬声器发出一个女人的声音。“第八区查理女王，第八区查理女王，这是第八区泰尔面包师。你能听到吗，杰姬？”

156

-

From the speaker in the set before her came a woman’s voice.“Eight Queen Charlie, Eight Queen Charlie, this is Eight Baker Tare. Can you hear me, Jackie?”

157

-

培根小姐转动了一下旋钮，然后说：“第八区泰尔面包师，这是第八区查理女王。我能听得很清楚，音量大概为四。你们那边的天气怎么样，科比特太太？报文完，请回复！”

157

-

Miss Bacon turned the switch and said,“Eight Baker Tare, this is Eight Queen Charlie. I’m receiving you quite well, about strength four. What’s the weather like with you, Mrs Corbett? Over to you. Over.”

158

-

“哦，天啊，”扬声器说，“这里简直是倾盆大雨。这雨太可爱了，吉姆说我们可把它盼来了。我相信天气已经开始变凉了。报文完，请回复！”

158

-

“Oh my dear,”the loudspeaker said,“it’s coming down in torrents here. We’re having a lovely rain; Jim says we’ve really got it at last. I do believe it’s getting cooler already. Over to you.”

159

-

“第八区泰尔面包师，”培根小姐说，“这是第八区查理女王。我们这里的雨也不小。我没有任何新消息要告诉你，科比特太太，但如果你那边有人要来乔治城，请帮忙捎话给卡特太太，说她儿子罗尼昨晚从麦基坐火车来凯恩斯，并将继续坐火车去福赛斯。他将于周四上午抵达福赛斯，所以周四晚上能到家。收文悉否，科比特太太？报文完，请回复！”

159

-

“Eight Baker Tare,”said Miss Bacon,“this is Eight Queen Charlie. We’re having a lovely rain here, too. I have nothing for you, Mrs Corbett, but if you should have anybody going into Georgetown will you pass word to Mrs Cutter that her son Ronnie came up on the train from Mackay last night and he’s coming on by train to Forsayth. He’ll be there on Thursday morning, so he should be home on Thursday night. Is this Roger, Mrs Corbett? Over to you. Over.”

160

-

扬声器说：“收文悉，杰姬。我们的一个牧工或者吉姆今天晚些时候会去乔治城，我保证把消息转达给卡特太太。报文完！”

160

-

The loudspeaker said,“That’s Roger, Jackie. One of the boys or Jim will be in Georgetown later on today, and I’ll see Mrs Cutter gets that message. Over.”

161

-

“第八区泰尔面包师，”培根小姐说，“这是第八区查理女王，科比特太太。通话到此为止。请继续收听广播。第八区轻松维克多，第八区轻松维克多，第八区查理女王呼叫第八区轻松维克多。如果你能听到的话，请回话，马歇尔太太。报文完，请回复！”

161

-

“Eight Baker Tare,”said Miss Bacon,“this is Eight Queen Charlie. Roger, Mrs Corbett. I must sign off now. Listening out. Eight Easy Victor, Eight Easy Victor, this is Eight Queen Charlie calling Eight Easy Victor. Eight Easy Victor, this is Eight Queen Charlie calling Eight Easy Victor. If you are receiving me, Mrs Marshall, will you please come in. Over to you. Over.”

162

-

毫无回音。培根小姐继续呼叫了一会儿第八区轻松维克多。但她知道马歇尔太太习惯在早晨广播时段喂鸡，一般都等晚间广播时段再回话。她发出了规定次数的呼叫，便继续呼叫下一个。“第八区豪奶奶，这是第八区查理女王，”然后重复了一遍自己的话，“如果你能听见，第八区豪奶奶，请回话。报文完，请回复！”

162

-

There was silence. Miss Bacon went on calling Eight Easy Victor for a minute, but Mrs Marshall, she knew, was in the habit of feeding the hens at the time of the morning schedule and more usually came in in the evening. She made her statutory number of calls and went on to the next.“Eight Nan How, this is Eight Queen Charlie,”and repeated herself.“If you are receiving me, Eight Nan How, will you please come in. Over to you. Over.”

163

-

一个男人的声音说：“第八区查理女王，这是第八区豪奶奶。报文完！”

163

-

A man’s voice said,“Eight Queen Charlie, this is Eight Nan How. Over.”

164

-

培根小姐说：“第八区豪奶奶，这是第八区查理女王。我有一封你的电报，格斯林先生。你有铅笔和纸吗？我只能等一分钟。注意，只有一分钟，你准备好后，请呼叫我。报文完！”

164

-

Miss Bacon said,“Eight Nan How, this is Eight Queen Charlie. I have a telegram for you, Mr Gosling. Have you got a pencil and paper? I can wait just one minute. Only one minute, mind. Call me when you’re ready. Over.”

165

-

她等他再次呼叫她时说：“第八区豪奶奶，这是第八区查理女王。你的电报来自汤斯维尔，提道莫莉昨晚七点产子，重八镑四盎司，母子平安。署名是：伯特。收到了吗，格斯林先生？报文完，请回复！”

165

-

She waited till he called her back, and then said,“Eight Nan How, this is Eight Queen Charlie. Your telegram is from Townsville and it reads Molly had son seven last night eight pounds four ounces both doing fine. And the signature is, Bert. Have you got that, Mr Gosling? Over to you. Over.”

166

-

扬声器说：“我收到了。又是一个男孩儿。报文完！”

166

-

The speaker said,“I got that. It’s another boy. Over.”

167

-

培根小姐说：“如此顺利真是太让人高兴了。你给莫莉写信的时候，请转达我的祝福，好不好，格斯林先生？请问还有别的事情吗？报文完！”

167

-

Miss Bacon said,“I am so glad it’s all gone off all right. Give Molly my love when you write, won’t you, Mr Gosling? Have you got anything else for me? Over.”

168

-

扬声器说：“我会好好想想怎么回电，杰姬，并在晚间广播时段告诉你。报文完，请回复！”

168

-

The speaker said,“I’ll think out a reply to this, Jackie, and give it to you on the evening schedule. Over to you. Over.”

169

-

她说：“好的，格斯林先生，我将等候你的消息。通话到此为止。第八区尤克条款，第八区查理女王呼叫第八区尤克条款。”她继续工作。

169

-

She said,“Okay, Mr Gosling, I’ll take it then. Now I must sign off from you. Eight Item Yoke, Eight Item Yoke, this is Eight Queen Charlie calling Eight Item Yoke.”She went on with her work.

170

-

二十分钟后，她仍然在收发消息。“第八区能人乔治，第八区能人乔治，如果你能听到第八区查理女王，请回话。报文完！”

170

-

Twenty minutes later she was still at it.“Eight Able George, Eight Able George, this is Eight Queen Charlie calling Eight Able George. Eight Able George, if you are receiving Eight Queen Charlie will you come in now. Over.”

171

-

扬声器传来一连串带着抽泣声的话语。说话人身处三百英里之外，声音受到静电的严重干扰。“哦，杰姬，收到你的呼叫我太高兴了。我们这里出了大事。唐的马昨晚回来了。两点时我听到马回来的声音，觉得很奇怪。唐从来不在夜间赶路，因为路上有很多树。然后我又想了想，觉得不对劲儿，因为只听到一匹马的声音，而唐去的时候带着萨姆逊一起。于是我起床望向窗外。我看不见马，哦，天啊，于是我就拿起手电筒，穿上大衣走进雨里。哦，天啊，我看见了唐骑走的那匹马朱比利，上好了鞍，装备齐全，但唐没回来。我太害怕了。”声音逐渐变成一连串抽泣声。

171

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The answer came in a sobbing torrent of words, rather impeded by the static of three hundred miles.“Oh, Jackie. I’m so glad you’ve come. We’re in such trouble here. Don’s horse came back last night. I heard the horse come in about two o’clock in the morning and I thought, that’s funny, because Don never travels at night because of the trees, you know. And then I thought, that’s funny, because there was only one horse and he had Samson with him so I got up to look and I couldn’t see the horse, my dear, so I got a torch and put my coat on and went out in the rain and, my dear, there it was, Don’s horse, Jubilee, saddled and everything and Don wasn’t there, and I’m so frightened.”The voice dissolved into a torrent of sobs.

172

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培根小姐呆呆地坐在麦克风前，一只手放在旋钮上，听着通过载波从另一头传来的低泣声，纵使饱受静电干扰仍然声声刺耳。在海伦·柯蒂斯平静下来并记起把旋钮旋至“接收”之前，她什么都做不了。她迅速扫了一眼面前的单子，犹豫了一会儿，然后从椅子上起身，开门向当值的消防员说：“弗雷德，请打电话给巴尔内斯先生，如果可以的话请让他下来。温德米尔出事儿了。”

172

-

Miss Bacon sat motionless before the microphone, one hand on the transmitter switch, listening to the carrier wave and the low sobbing at the other end, clearly distinguishable through the static. There was nothing to be done until Helen Curtis recovered herself and remembered to switch over to Receive. She glanced quickly at the list before her; she hesitated, and then left her chair and opened the door and called to the fireman on duty,“Fred, ring up Mr Barnes and ask him to come down if he can. Something’s happened at Windermere.”

173

-

她回到椅子上。此时，扬声器里传出一个尖锐的外差尖叫声，淹没了抽泣声，似乎是某个表示同情的愚蠢女人试图在相同的波段上回话，但声音含混不清。她耐心地坐着，等待干扰消失，在她们记起来进行常规操作之前，她什么都做不了。外差停止了，海伦·柯蒂斯仍然在三百英里外的麦克风前抽泣着，头顶上方挂着一幅彩画，画着身披加冕长袍的国王和王后，收音机上放着他们女儿的婚纱照。然后她说：“杰姬，杰姬，你在吗？哦，我忘了。报文完！”

173

-

She went back to her chair, and now a heterodyne squeal shrilled out, drowning the sobbing as some sympathetic, foolish woman came in on the same wave saying something unintelligible. She sat patiently waiting for the air to clear; until they remembered their routines she could do nothing for them. The heterodyne stopped and Helen Curtis was still sobbing at the microphone three hundred miles away, beneath the coloured picture of the King and Queen in coronation robes and the picture of their daughter’s wedding group that stood upon the set. Then she said,“Jackie, Jackie, are you there? Oh, I forgot. Over.”

174

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培根小姐转动旋钮，说：“好的，海伦，这是杰姬。请各位注意，第八区查理女王正在和能人乔治通话。请所有人停止通话，不要插话。你们可以守听，但不要插话。如果有人能帮得上忙，我会呼叫他。柯蒂斯太太，我让弗雷德打电话给巴尔内斯先生，请他下来。现在请你保持冷静，告诉我事情的经过，我会记下来。请记住你的操作规程，如果你想听到我的回复，请转动旋钮。请别太担心，海伦，请冷静地告诉我具体情况。报文完，请回复！”

174

-

Miss Bacon turned her switch and said,“All right, Helen, this is Jackie here. Look, everybody, this is Eight Queen Charlie talking to Eight Able George. Will everybody please keep off the air and not transmit. You can stay listening in, but not transmit. I’ll call you if you can do anything. Mrs Curtis, I’ve sent Fred to telephone to Mr Barnes to get him to come down. Now sit down quietly and tell me what happened and I’ll take it down. Remember your routine and switch over when you want me to answer. It’s going to be all right, Helen. Just tell me quietly what happened. Over to you. Over.”

175

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扬声器说：“哦，杰姬。能听到你的声音实在是太好了。我身边只剩下土著了。戴夫放假了，彼特去了诺曼顿。事情是这样的。唐三天前带着萨姆逊一起去牛场上的失望溪，说自己会离开两天。他们没有按期回来，我并不担心，因为下雨了。我想他们要绕远路，因为小溪涨满了。然后，昨晚只有唐的马自己回来了，萨姆逊也失踪了。萨姆逊是我们新请的土著牧工。我这儿有一个名叫庄尼·沃克的牧工很擅长跟踪脚印，他一大早就出门了，骑着马沿脚印原路返回。但他一个小时前返回牧场住宅，报告说情况很糟糕，因为雨水把脚印都冲走了，他只能跟踪到三英里远。现在我不知道该怎么办了。”接下来是一阵沉默，然后她说：“哦，报文完！”

175

-

The speaker said,“Oh, Jackie, it is good to hear you. I’ve got nobody here except the boongs. Dave’s on holiday and Pete’s in Normanton. What happened was this. Don went up to the Disappointment Creek part of the station three days ago and he took Samson with him and he said he’d be away two days. I wasn’t worried when they didn’t get back because of the rain, you know, and I thought they’d have to go around because the creeks would be up. And then last night Don’s horse came back alone, and no sign of Samson. Samson’s our new Abo stockrider. I’ve got a very good tracker here called Johnnie Walker, and Johnnie went out at dawn to track the horse back. But he came back an hour ago and it wasn’t any good because the rain had washed the tracks out; he could only follow it about three miles and then he lost it, and now I don’t know what to do.”There was a pause, and then she said,“Oh, over.”

176

-

培根小姐的书写纸上写满了潦草的笔记。她转动旋钮，说：“这是杰姬，海伦。请告诉我，你们南北边上都有什么牛场？报文完。”

176

-

Miss Bacon’s pad was covered with rough notes. She turned her switch and said,“This is Jackie, Helen. Tell me, what stations are north and south of you? Over.”

177

-

“北方是卡莱尔农场，杰姬——那是埃迪·佩吉的农场。南方是米德赫斯特农场，东方是派力肯农场。米德赫斯特的经理是乔·哈曼，派力肯是莱恩·德赖弗。不过我想米德赫斯特没有广播。报文完。”

177

-

“It’s Carlisle, north of us, Jackie—that’s Eddie Page. It’s Midhurst to the south, and Pelican to the east. Midhurst is Joe Harman and Pelican Len Driver. I don’t think Midhurst’s got a radio, though. Over.”

178

-

培根小姐说：“好的，海伦，我会尝试呼叫他们。请在座位上守听，因为巴尔内斯先生来了后要跟你说话。现在我要接通卡莱尔农场。我有第八区小狗糖果给第八区吉格舞威廉的电报，等我一有空就转达给他们。第八区查理彼特，第八区查理彼特，这是第八区查理女王。如果你听到我的呼叫，第八区查理彼特，请回话。报文完。”

178

-

Miss Bacon said,“All right Helen, I’ll call some of them. Stay listening in, because Mr Barnes will want to speak to you when he comes. Now I’m going over to Carlisle. I have telegrams for Eight Dog Sugar and for Eight Jig William, and I will give them as soon as I’m free. Eight Charlie Peter, Eight Charlie Peter, this is Eight Queen Charlie. If you are receiving me, Eight Charlie Peter, will you come in. Over.”

179

-

她转动旋钮，听到埃迪·佩吉不紧不慢的声音，松了一口气。“第八区查理女王，这是第八区查理彼特。我听到了你和杰姬的所有通话。弗雷德·道森和我在一起，我们会尽快去温德米尔了解情况。请告诉海伦我们大约四小时后到达她家，到时再见机行事。你会保持守听吗？报文完。”

179

-

She turned her switch and heard the measured tones of Eddie Page, and sighed with relief.“Eight Queen Charlie, this is Eight Charlie Peter. I heard all that Jackie. I’ve got Fred Dawson here, and we’ll go down to Windermere soon as we can. Tell Helen we’ll be with her in about four hours and see what we can do. Will you be keeping a listening watch? Over.”

180

-

她说：“没问题，佩吉先生。我们会一直在原地守听，直至进入值班时间。值班时间内从整点到整点过十分都会有人守听。收文悉否？报文完。”

180

-

She said,“That’s fine, Mr Page. We shall be on watch here till this is squared up listening every hour, from the hour till ten minutes past the hour. Is this Roger? Over.”

181

-

他说：“好的，杰姬，收文悉。我现在停止通话去备鞍。你今天不会再听到我的声音了，奥利弗不会操作机器。我走了。”

181

-

He said,“Okay Jackie, that’s Roger. I’ll sign off now and go and saddle up. You won’t be able to raise me any more; Olive can’t work it. Out.”

182

-

她接下来呼叫派力肯，但没有回音。她随后呼叫第八区爱麦克，即威尔斯镇骑警局，并马上接通了海恩斯中士。他说：“好的，杰姬，我都听见了。我会派菲尔·邓肯和一个善于寻找脚印的手下处理此事，并尽量派一个牧工跟着他们。我会让路过米德赫斯特的人把这件事情告诉乔·哈曼。请告诉巴尔内斯先生，邓肯警员将于今天下午三四点钟到达温德米尔。关于守听的信息已收悉。你真是个好姑娘。完毕。”

182

-

She called Pelican next, but got no answer, so she called Eight Love Mike, the Willstown Mounted Police Station, and got Sergeant Haines at once. He said,“Okay Jackie, I’ve heard all of that. I’m sending Phil Duncan and one of my trackers, and we’ll see if any of the boys can come along. I’ll see that someone goes round by Midhurst and tells Joe Harman. Tell Mr Barnes that Constable Duncan will be at Windermere about three or four this afternoon. Your listening watch is Roger. Good girl, Jackie. Out.”

183

-

尽管出了这么大一件事情，那天余下的常规工作仍然要完成。培根小姐说：“第八区小狗糖果，这是第八区查理女王。我有一封给第八区小狗糖果的电报，如果第八区小狗糖果听到第八区查理女王的呼叫，请回话。完毕。”她继续工作。

183

-

Drama or no drama, the day’s work still remained to be done. Miss Bacon said,“Eight Dog Sugar, this is Eight Queen Charlie calling Eight Dog Sugar. I have a telegram for Eight Dog Sugar. If you are receiving Eight Queen Charlie will you please come in. Over.”She went on with her work.

184

-

大约中午时分，琴正在米德赫斯特和乔·哈曼一起测量厨房，在书写纸上做计划，突然听到了马蹄声。外面还在下着雨，但是雨势稍小。他们走到房子的另一头，看见彼特·弗莱彻把马交给月光并走上门廊。他头戴宽松的牧工帽，淋成落汤鸡。上楼梯时，他的靴子发出吧唧吧唧的声音。

184

-

At Midhurst Jean was measuring up the kitchen with Joe Harman and making a plan on a writing-pad, when they heard a horse approaching about noon. It was still raining, though less fiercely than before. They went to the other side of the house and saw Pete Fletcher handing his horse over to Moonshine; he came up to the veranda. He was wearing his broad ringer’s hat and he was soaked to the skin; his boots squelched as he climbed the steps.

185

-

他说：“你们收听广播了吗？”

185

-

He said,“Did you hear the radio?”

186

-

“没有。怎么了？”

186

-

“No. What’s that?”

187

-

“温德米尔那边出了点状况，”牧工说，“三天前唐·柯蒂斯带着一个土著牧工去牧场的北部边界，现在只有马自己回来了。”

187

-

“Some kind of trouble up on Windermere,”the boy said.“Don Curtis went up with an Abo ringer to the top end of his station three days ago. Now the horse is back without him.”

188

-

“有没有引马沿路返回？”乔马上问。

188

-

“Tracked the horse back?”Joe asked at once.

189

-

“试过了，但找不到路。所有脚印都被冲掉了。”牧工坐在门廊边缘上，脱掉靴子，把里面的水倒掉，很快就倒出来一摊水。“杰姬·培根，在凯恩斯广播站工作的女孩儿，在早晨广播时段收到这个消息。她呼叫了海恩斯中士，中士派了菲尔·邓肯去温德米尔。菲尔正在去那儿的路上，和阿尔·伯恩斯一起。我说我会路过这边并顺道告诉你。埃迪·佩吉和弗雷德·道森已经一起出发从卡莱尔去温德米尔了。”

189

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“Tried that, but it didn’t work. Tracks all washed out.”The boy sat down on the edge of the veranda and began taking off his boots to tip the water out of them; a little pool formed round him.“Jackie Bacon, the girl on the Cairns radio, she got the news on the morning schedule. She called Sergeant Haines, and he sent Phil Duncan to Windermere. Phil’s on his way there now, with Al Burns. I said I’d come round this way and tell you. Eddie Page is on his way to Windermere from Carlisle, with Fred Dawson.”

190

-

乔问：“唐带着哪个土著牧工去的？”

190

-

Joe asked,“Who was the Abo ringer he had with him?”

191

-

“一个叫作萨姆逊的小伙儿，来自米切尔里弗。他跟着唐工作有大约一个月了。”

191

-

“Chap called Samson from the Mitchell River. He’s been with Don about a month.”

192

-

“他们知道他去牛场的什么地方吗？”

192

-

“Do they know where on the station he was going to?”

193

-

“北边，失望溪那儿。”

193

-

“Up by Disappointment Creek.”

194

-

“看在基督的分上，”乔说，“那我知道他去那儿干什么了。”琴看着他，他嘴唇紧绷。

194

-

“For Christ’s sake,”Joe said.“Then I know what he’s been up to.”Jean, looking at him, saw his mouth set in a hard line.

195

-

“去干什么？”彼特问。

195

-

“What’s that?”asked Pete.

196

-

“他又在打我的小牛的主意，”乔说，“那个强盗在那儿修了一个小牛畜栏。”

196

-

“He’s been at my poddys again,”said Joe.“The mugger’s got a poddy corral up there.”

197

-

“你怎么知道的？”彼特问。

197

-

“How do you know that?”asked Pete.

198

-

“被我发现了，”他说，“我来告诉你畜栏在哪儿。你知道失望溪从哪儿流入菲什里弗吗？”牧工点点头。“嗯，从那儿沿失望溪往上游走大约四英里，就会看见一个小岛，小岛旁边有一条从北面流进来的小溪。嗯，继续往前走大约一英里，就会看见失望溪北面有一大片茂密的树林，后面有一个小小的荒山。你不可能搞错的。小牛畜栏就在那片树林后面，在荒山脚下。如果你爬到那个山上——它只有十五英尺高——就会看见南面的小牛畜栏。”他顿了顿，“如果你跟搜索救援队一起去，我建议你们先去那儿找找。”

198

-

“Found the sod,”said Joe.“I’ll tell you where it is. You know where Disappointment Creek runs into the Fish River?”The boy nodded.“Well, from there you go up Disappointment Creek about four miles and you’ll come to an island and a little bit of a creek running in from the north just by it. Well, go on past that about a mile and you’ll see a lot of thick bush north of the creek with a little bare hill behind. You can’t mistake it. The poddy corral’s round the back of the thick bush, just under the bare hill. If you get up on that hill—it’s only about fifty feet high—you’ll see the poddy corral to the south of you.”He paused.“If you’re going on a search party I’d start off with that.”

199

-

“谢谢你，乔，”彼特说，“我到温德米尔就告诉他们。”

199

-

“Thanks, Joe,”Pete said.“I’ll tell them at Windermere.”

200

-

“是的，你最好告诉他们。我想柯蒂斯太太对此一无所知。”

200

-

“Aye, you’d better. I don’t suppose Mrs Curtis knows anything about it.”

201

-

琴一直在犹豫，不知道是否应该加入这个谈话，因为他们谈论的事情对她而言非常陌生。但现在她说：“你是怎么知道这件事的，乔？”

201

-

Jean had been hesitant to break in on a discussion about things that she knew nothing of, but now she said,“How did you get to know about it, Joe?”

202

-

他转向她：“圣诞刚结束时，我和布尔内维尔一起去了一次北部边界，我发现小牛好像变少了。于是我让布尔内维尔跟踪小牛的脚印。那时基本还没开始下雨，所以脚印很清晰。卡特赖特河就在那儿，我们把它当作牛场边界。我们跟踪脚印过了河，一直去到温德米尔。那儿有两匹马，还有很多小牛。就像我之前说的，我找到了畜栏，小牛都被关在畜栏里，关了有两三天了。当然了，我把它们放了出来，并把它们赶了回去。好不容易才把它们从第一个水坑边上赶走了，哦，老天。”

202

-

He turned to her.“I was up at the top end just after Christmas with Bourneville, and I thought poddys were a bit scarcer than they ought to be. So then Bourneville got to tracking and the rain hadn’t hardly begun then, so it was easy. The Cartwright River makes the station boundary just there, and we followed the tracks across and on to Windermere. Two horses there were, with a lot of poddys. We found the corral like I said, and there they were; been there two or three days. I let ’em out, of course, and drove them back. Had a cow of a job to get them past the first water, oh my word.”

203

-

彼特问道：“畜栏里有多少头小牛，乔？”

203

-

Pete asked,“How many were there, Joe?”

204

-

“四十七头。”

204

-

“Forty-seven.”

205

-

“都是未打烙印的？”

205

-

“All cleanskins?”

206

-

“哦，是的。”乔听出了他的弦外之音，深感震惊。

206

-

“Oh yes.”Joe was rather shocked at the implied suggestion.

207

-

“唐不会做那种事的。”他说。

207

-

“Don wouldn’t go and do a thing like that,”he said.

208

-

牧工穿上鞋子并站起身来。“你打算怎么做？跟我一起去吗？”

208

-

The boy put on his boots and got up.“What’ll you do, Joe? Come along with me?”

209

-

“不。”乔慢慢地回答道，“我想我会直接去米德赫斯特的北部边界，他是从那儿把小牛偷走的。也许他还想再偷一些，结果在那儿出了意外。那在卡特赖特河南面，我们修的新钻头往东。如果我在我的土地上没发现他的踪迹，我会跟踪他把小牛赶去畜栏时留下的脚印。说不定我明天或者后天的时候会在那儿附近跟你会合。”

209

-

“I don’t think so,”Joe replied slowly.“I think I’ll get up to the top end of my station, where he got those poddys from. Maybe he’s been after some more, and had his accident up there. That’s south of the Cartwright River, and east of the new bore we made. If I can’t see any trace of him on my land, then I’ll follow the way he drove those poddys to his corral. Maybe I’ll meet you around there somewhere tomorrow or the next day.”

210

-

彼特点点头：“我会转达给菲尔的。”

210

-

Pete nodded.“I’ll tell Phil.”

211

-

“请告诉他，我会带上布尔内维尔一起去。我开越野车把佩吉特小姐送回威尔斯镇后就马上出发。”

211

-

“Tell him I’ll be taking Bourneville with me, and I’ll start as soon as I’ve run Miss Paget here back into town in the utility.”

212

-

在那种大雨滂沱的天气下，开越野车跑四十英里需要花差不多三个小时。琴说：“乔，不用管我。我留在这里等你回来。你马上跟彼特走吧。”

212

-

Forty miles in the utility in those wet conditions would take the best part of three hours. Jean said,“Joe, don’t bother about me. I’ll stay here till you come back. You get off at once.”

213

-

他犹豫了。“我可能会离开好几天。”

213

-

He hesitated.“I may be away for days.”

214

-

“嗯，那我就骑萨利回去。我可以带上一个土著，让他把萨利骑回来。”

214

-

“Well then, I’ll ride into town on Sally. One of the boongs can come with me and bring Sally back.”

215

-

“这样也行，”他慢慢地说，“月光会留在这儿，可以让他跟你一起回去。我带着布尔内维尔。”

215

-

“You could do that,”he said slowly.“Moonshine will be here, and he could go with you. I’ll be taking Bourneville along with me.”

216

-

“好的，”她说，“那完全没问题。戴夫什么时候回来？”

216

-

“Well then,”she said,“that’s perfectly all right. What time’s Dave coming back?”

217

-

“应该是这个下午吧。”他说。他转向彼特。“我让吉姆·伦农放假了，戴夫去诺曼顿找一个年轻女护士，但他今天就会回来。”

217

-

“Should be back this afternoon,”he said. He turned to Pete.“I’ve got Jim Lennon on holiday, and Dave’s off visiting a girl, one of the nurses down at Normanton. But he’ll be back today.”

218

-

琴说：“我会留在这里等戴夫回来，以防万一，乔。”

218

-

Jean said,“I’ll stay here till Dave comes, in case anything crops up, Joe.”

219

-

他向她微笑。“嗯，那可帮了大忙了。我不想只留下牧工。我会告诉月光，让他领你进镇，你想什么时候走都可以。”他转向彼特。“要不要换一匹马？”

219

-

He smiled at her.“Well, that would be a help. I don’t like leaving the place with just the boongs. I’ll tell Moonshine he’s to take you into town any time you want to go. He turned to Pete.“Want another horse?”

220

-

“不用了吧。这儿离温德米尔大概有四十英里远？”

220

-

“I don’t think so. ’Bout thirty miles to Windermere from here?”

221

-

“没错。过了这条河，你就能找到一条直达那儿的小路。最近没什么人走那条路，如果你找不着它，就往北骑去吉尔伯特河。沿河骑一两英里就会见到一座小木屋，杰夫·波科克捕猎鳄鱼时就住在那座屋子里。从那儿往北骑大概两英里，有一个可以骑马横穿的浅滩。从那儿往北骑大约十英里，就能找到他们从牧场住宅去威尔斯镇的路。你不可能搞错的。”

221

-

“That’s right. Cross over the river here, you know, and you’ll find a track that leads there all the way. It’s not been used much lately. If you miss it, go north to the Gilbert and follow up a mile or two and you’ll find a little hut Jeff Pocock uses when he’s hunting ’gators. There’s a shallow about two miles up from that where you can get across. Go north from there about ten miles and you’ll find their track from the homestead to Willstown. You can’t mistake that.”

222

-

“好的。”

222

-

“Okay.”

223

-

“要不要带点食物？”

223

-

“What about some tucker?”

224

-

牧工摇摇头。“我还是尽快上路吧。”

224

-

The boy shook his head.“Think I’ll get on my way.”

225

-

他们走下楼梯到院子里去，看着他装好马鞍后离开。雨实际已经停了，但依然天色阴沉，乌云密布。乔转向她。“很抱歉，”他轻轻地说，“今儿我们什么都干不了了。你确定和月光一起骑马进镇没问题吗？”

225

-

They went down into the yard and saw him saddle up and ride away. The rain had practically stopped, but the clouds were heavy and black overhead. Joe turned to her.“Sorry about this,”he said quietly.“It’s spoilt our day. You’re sure you don’t mind riding in with Moonshine?”

226

-

“当然没问题，”她说，“你必须赶紧出发。”

226

-

“Of course not,”she said.“You must get away at once.”

227

-

她匆忙进屋催促棕榄给他们做一点午饭和食物，好让他们能带着在路上吃。男人们正在院子里备鞍。他们准备带上各自的乘用马和一匹驮马，让驮马背着一个帐篷和露营装备。乔认为只需带上少量质量极差的食物，她感到心疼万分。他从食品橱里拿出一大块煮过了头的肉，把这块黑得可怖的东西连同三条面包一起扔进一个袋子里，抓了几把茶叶放进一个可可罐里，再抓了几把糖放进另一个罐子里。那就是他的全部食物，但他却不知道要在旅途上耽搁多久。她在一旁看着他埋头作准备，没有干涉，因为不想打扰到他。但她把这一切记在心里，也许将来能派上用场。

227

-

She hurried in to galvanize Palmolive to prepare some lunch and food for them to take with them; down in the yard the men were saddling up. They took their riding horses and one packhorse with them, loaded with a tent and camping gear. She was distressed at the meagre quantity and poor quality of the food Joe seemed to think it necessary to take with them. He took a hunk of horrible black, overcooked meat out of the meat safe and dropped it into a sack with three loaves of bread; he took a couple of handfuls of tea in an old cocoa tin and a couple of handfuls of sugar in another. That was the whole of his provision for a journey of indefinite length. She did not interfere, seeing that he was absorbed in his preparations and not wanting to fuss him, but she stored up the knowledge for her future information.

228

-

他在门廊上和她吻别，她和他一起走下楼梯到院子里。“照顾好自己，乔。”她说。

228

-

He kissed her goodbye on the veranda and she went down with him to the yard.“Look after yourself, Joe,”she said.

229

-

他咧嘴一笑。“下周在威尔斯镇见。”然后他骑马小跑着出了大门，布尔内维尔在他旁边，后面牵着驮马。然后她就孤零零地跟土著一起留在了米德赫斯特。

229

-

He grinned.“See you in Willstown next week.”Then he was trotting out of the gate with Bourneville by his side and the packhorse behind on a lead, and she was left alone at Midhurst with the boongs.

230

-

雨又开始下。她走上门廊。乔走了，棕榄又回到了自己的房间，门廊上空荡荡静悄悄的。雨不断地打在铁屋顶上，叮叮咚咚作响。她突然想到，可能整件事情都已经结束了。唐·柯蒂斯可能已经回到了温德米尔，乔可能白跑了一趟。米德赫斯特居然没有无线电收发机，真是太不可思议了。确实，他们离医院只有二十英里，如果是他们自己发生意外，并不需要使用收发机。但如果遇到像现在这种让人牵肠挂肚的情况，没有收发机就太不方便了。她打定主意，等他们结婚后，一定要在米德赫斯特买一台发报机。这年头，没有收发机的牛场太落伍了。

230

-

It began to rain again, and she went up into the veranda. It was very quiet and empty now that Joe was gone, and Palmolive had retired to her own place. The rain made a steady drumming on the iron roof. It occurred to her that the whole business might be over. Don Curtis might have turned up at Windermere and Joe’s journey might be so much wasted effort. It was absurd that Midhurst had not got a radio transmitter. It was true enough that they were only twenty miles from the hospital and so would hardly need it for their own accidents, but in a case like this it was both difficult and trying not to know what was going on. She made up her mind to have a transmitter at Midhurst when they were married. A cattle station without one in these days was a back number.

231

-

她之前从未试过孤身一人留在米德赫斯特。她一个一个地走遍了所有房间，步履缓慢，左思右想。沙袋鼠蹦蹦跳跳地跟在后面。她时不时把手放下来爱抚它，它轻轻地啃她的手指头。她在他的房间里停留了很长时间，手指划过粗糙的装备和衣服，它们就是乔的全部家当。他的生活太简陋了。然而，就是在这个房间里，他梦想并计划了去英国追寻她的伟大旅程。这个旅程在诺尔·斯特拉坎的办公室里戛然而止。最后一次去赞善里似乎已经是上辈子的事情了。

231

-

She had never been alone in Midhurst before. She wandered through from room to room, slowly, deep in thought, and the wallaby lolloped after her; from time to time she dropped her hand to caress it, and it nibbled her fingers. She spent a long time in his room, touching and fingering the rough gear and clothes that were essentially Joe. He had so few things. Yet it was in this room he had dreamed and planned that fantastic journey to England in search of her, that journey that had ended in Noel Strachan’s office in Chancery Lane. Chancery Lane seemed very far away.

232

-

大概三点的时候，戴夫·霍普回来了。彼特·弗莱彻早上过来的时候，他正骑着马冒雨从威尔斯镇往回赶。他在途中遇到一辆从诺曼顿开来的卡车，搭了一程便车。他在威尔斯镇听说了所有关于温德米尔的事情。他临近中午才离开威尔斯镇，知道很多广播上没说的新消息。他告诉她，那个土著牧工萨姆逊已经回到牧场住宅了。

232

-

At about three o’clock Dave Hope arrived. He came riding from Willstown through the rain as Pete Fletcher had come in the morning; he had got a lift up on a truck from Normanton. He had heard all about the Windermere affair in Willstown, which he had left shortly before noon, and he could add further information from the radio. He told her that the Abo ringer, Samson, had returned to the homestead.

233

-

“他们好像正在找一些小牛，”他说，“在牛场北面的失望溪附近。他们出于某种原因各走各路。他们离开营地时约好晚上回去会合。唐那晚没回营地，土著在黑暗中也无法找到他的脚印。第二天早晨，整个地方都被水淹了，土著压根无法找到他的脚印。就是这样了。”

233

-

“Seems they were looking for some poddys,”he said,“somewhere up at the Disappointment Creek end of the station. They separated and one went one way, one the other, for some reason; they left the camp standing and were going to meet back in the evening. Don didn’t turn up that evening and of course the Abo couldn’t track him in the dark. When the morning came the whole place was swimming in water, and he couldn’t track him at all. That’s how it seems to be.”

234

-

他们在门廊上谈论了一会儿此事。在离他们三四十英里外的某个地方，肯定有一个男人躺在地上，身受重伤。只能确定他身处一个方圆三十英里的地区内。他可能躺在一个树丛底下，并且很可能那时已经失去了意识。要找到他无异于大海捞针。

234

-

They talked about it for some time on the veranda. Somewhere thirty or forty miles from them a man must be lying injured on the ground; he might be anywhere within a circle thirty miles in diameter. He might be lying under a bush and very probably by that time he would be unconscious; looking for him would be like looking for a needle in a bundle of hay.

235

-

“你最好去帮他们，戴夫，”琴最后说，“这里没什么事情。我留下来料理家务。”

235

-

“You’d better go and help, Dave,”Jean said at last.“There’s nothing to do here. I’ll stay here and look after things.”

236

-

他起了点疑心。“哈曼先生给我分派任务了吗？”

236

-

He was a little doubtful.“What did Mr Harman say I was to do?”

237

-

“他什么也没说。我跟他说我会留在这里等你回来。如果牛场上只剩下土著的话，他觉得不太妥当。我会留在这里，戴夫，直到有其他白人过来。你去温德米尔加入他们吧，那样做最好了。”

237

-

“He didn’t say anything. I said I’d stay here till you got back. He doesn’t want the station left without anyone at all, except the boongs. I’ll stay here Dave, till somebody else comes. You go and join them over at Windermere. That’s the best thing you can do.”

238

-

“留在这儿无所事事确实是很不仗义。”他承认。

238

-

“It certainly seems crook to stay here doing nothing,”he admitted.

239

-

下午晚些时候，她打发他走了。那时离天黑还有两个小时，他很高兴能在夜色中赶路，因为他很熟悉温德米尔牛场。现在又剩下她自己一个人了，琴继续设计厨房，满怀憧憬地把它设计成理想中的模样。她要让乔把旧厨房全部拆掉，从头修起。过了一会儿，棕榄走进厨房给她做晚饭吃的鸡蛋，给各种动物喂食，并给门廊上的植物浇水。

239

-

She got him off in the late afternoon with about two hours of daylight left. He knew Windermere station well, and was quite happy about finishing his journey in the dark. Left to herself, Jean went on with the plan of the kitchen she would have liked to see built, with a view to getting Joe to pull the old one down completely and start again from scratch. Presently Palmolive came in and cooked eggs for her tea, and fed the various animals, and watered the veranda plants.

240

-

棕榄离开后，她独自一人在米德赫斯特过夜，只有小狗和沙袋鼠陪伴她。窗外，夜雨潇潇，漆黑阴森，乔·哈曼正在马不停蹄地赶往牧场的北部边界，人马俱湿，小心翼翼地在黑暗中寻路前行。她除了干坐着等待消息，什么忙都帮不上。

240

-

When Palmolive had gone away, she was alone in Midhurst for the night, with only the puppies and the wallaby for company. Somewhere out in the darkness and the rain Joe Harman would be pushing on towards the top end of the property, horses and men soaked through, picking their way cautiously through the darkness. She could do nothing to help them, nothing but sit and wait.

241

-

那天晚上，她忽然明白了很多事情。她稍稍意识到一个生活在牧场上的妻子必须变得多么坚强。她不无严肃地想，即使是一个有五万三千英镑的妻子也不例外。她意识到无线电收发装置对于这样一个妻子而言几乎是不可或缺的。即使在头一个晚上，她也渴望和凯恩斯的杰姬·培根说上一两句话。她意识到，一个孤独的人有多么依赖动物。很奇怪地，她想起了奥利弗，那个皮肤棕黑的土著女孩儿，即使只是去威尔斯镇的旅馆小住，也无法离开那只小猫。到她上床准备睡觉的时候，她已经能够更好地体会奥利弗的心情了。

241

-

She learned a lot that evening. She learned a little of the fortitude that a wife on a cattle station must develop, even, she thought a little grimly, a wife with fifty-three thousand pounds. She learned that a radio transmitting and receiving set was almost indispensable to such a wife; even on that first evening she would have liked to exchange a word or two with Jackie Bacon in Cairns. She learned how much a lonely person turns to animals, and queerly the memory of Olive came into her mind, the brown Abo girl who could not bear to be separated from her kitten even on a visit to the Willstown hotel. By the time she went to bed she understood Olive a bit better.

242

-

她九点左右上床睡觉。床头有几本破旧的英美杂志。乔肯定经常翻阅它们，翻得七零八落的，另一个世界里的悲欢故事，他读了一遍又一遍。她拿起一本在床上看，但那些小说并不能引起她的兴趣，或者消除她的焦虑。雨停了，过了一会儿又开始下，然后又停了。她昏昏沉沉地睡着了。

242

-

She went to bed at about nine. There were one or two old British and American magazines about the place, tattered, much read stories about a different world. She took one of these and tried to read it in bed, but the fiction failed to satisfy her or to quell her anxieties. The rain stopped, and started, and then stopped again, and presently she slept.

243

-

她睡得不深，夜里频频醒来，又频频睡去。她黎明前就被院子里的马蹄声吵醒了。她立刻起床，穿上连衣裙走到门廊上，打开灯喊道：“谁？”

243

-

She slept lightly and woke many times, and dozed again. She woke before dawn to the sound of a horse in the yard. She got up at once and put her frock on and went out on the veranda, and switched on the light, and called,“Who’s that?”

244

-

一个男人走到楼梯脚的灯光下，说：“是我，小姐，布尔内维尔。霍普先生回来了吗？”

244

-

A man came forward into the light at the foot of the steps, and said,“It’s me, Missy, Bourneville. Missa Hope, him come back?”

245

-

他口音浓重，她无法听懂他在说什么。她说：“上来，布尔内维尔。怎么了？”

245

-

He spoke with a thick accent; she could not understand what he was saying. She said,“Come up here, Bourneville. What is it?”

246

-

他走上门廊，来到她的跟前。他是一个五十岁上下的男人，很黑，脸上布满了皱纹，头发灰白。他又说了一遍：“霍普先生，他回来了吗？”

246

-

He came up to her in the veranda. He was a man of about fifty years of age, very black, with a seamed, wrinkled face and greying hair. He said again,“Missa Hope, him come back?”

247

-

这次她听懂了。“他去温德米尔了。他回来了，又去了温德米尔。哈曼先生怎么样了，布尔内维尔？”

247

-

She understood this time.“He’s gone over to Windermere. He came back here, and went on to Windermere. What’s happened to Mr Harman, Bourneville?”

248

-

他说：“哈曼先生，他到北面边界了。他找到柯蒂斯先生，他脚断了。哈曼先生，他让我回来接霍普先生，他开越野车去北部边界，带柯蒂斯先生回来。”

248

-

He said,“Missa Harman, him up top end. Him find Missa Curtis, him leg broken. Missa Harman, him send me back fetch Missa Hope, him drive utility up top end, bring Missa Curtis down.”

249

-

她完全听不懂他在说什么，很生自己的气。问题在她，一个海湾地区的女人立刻就能听懂这个人的话，而此时此刻，听懂他说的话简直就是一件生死攸关的事情。她轻轻地说：“对不起，布尔内维尔。请再慢慢说一遍。”

249

-

She was angry with herself that she could not fully understand what he was saying. The fault lay within herself; a woman of the Gulf country would understand this man at once, and it was terribly important that she should understand. She said quietly,“I’m sorry, Bourneville. Say that again slowly.”

250

-

这一遍她听明白了。“霍普先生不在这里，”她说，“他去温德米尔了。”

250

-

She got it at the second repetition.“Mr Hope’s not here,”she said.“He’s gone to Windermere.”

251

-

他沉默了一会儿，然后说：“这里没有白人，可以开越野车吗？”

251

-

He was silent for a time. Then he said,“No white feller here, drive utility?”

252

-

她摇摇头。“你会开越野车吗，布尔内维尔？”

252

-

She shook her head.“Can you drive the utility, Bourneville?”

253

-

“不，小姐。”

253

-

“No, Missy.”

254

-

“有会开越野车的土著吗？”

254

-

“Can any of the other Abos drive the utility?”

255

-

“没有，小姐。”

255

-

“No, Missy.”

256

-

她突然萌生了一个想法。她可以让布尔内维尔带路，自己开越野车去找乔。但那可不是一件轻松的任务。她从未有过自己的汽车，虽然开过几次属于不同年轻小伙子的车，知道怎样驾驶，但驾龄不超过五个小时。她再度为自己的无能感到生气和羞愧。

256

-

The thought came to her that she could drive it up to them herself, with Bourneville as a guide, but it was not a thing to be undertaken lightly. She had never owned a car, and though she had driven cars belonging to various young men from time to time and knew the movements, her total driving experience did not exceed five hours. Again, she was angry and humiliated by her own incompetence.

257

-

她点起一根烟，陷入沉思。如果她贸然尝试驾驶越野车并把它撞坏了，对谁都没有好处。它可是一个大家伙，个头比任何一辆普通的汽车都要大，甚至比她驾驶过的任何东西都要大。还有一个办法，就是让布尔内维尔骑马去威尔斯镇，也许去警察局，请他们派一个司机开一辆卡车或者一辆越野车去北部边界。从米德赫斯特到威尔斯镇来回程有四十英里，卡车开到米德赫斯特就要六个小时，然后才能出发去北部边界。

257

-

She lit a cigarette and thought deeply. It would benefit nobody if she attempted to drive the utility and crashed it. It was a very big vehicle, larger than any ordinary car and much bigger than anything she had ever driven before. The alternative would be to send Bourneville riding on to Willstown, perhaps to the police station; they would send a truck or a utility out with a driver who would go on to the top end. The return journey to Willstown was forty miles. It would mean at least six hours delay before the truck could arrive at Midhurst ready to start for the top end.

258

-

她问：“哈曼先生离这里有多远，布尔内维尔？”

258

-

She asked,“How far away is Mr Harman, Bourneville?”

259

-

他想了想。“过了钻头四英里。”

259

-

He thought.“Four mile past bore.”

260

-

乔曾经告诉过她，新钻头距离牧场住宅二十二英里。那就是说事故现场距离这里二十六英里。她说：“路况怎么样？能开越野车到那里吗？”

260

-

Joe had once told her that the new bore was twenty-two miles from the homestead; that made the scene of the accident twenty-six miles away. She said,“What’s the track like? Can the utility get there?”

261

-

“路很棒，干的，一直到钻头那儿。”他说。她点点头。这话可信度很高，因为钻头刚刚在几个月前才完工，之前肯定一直有卡车开去那儿。即使下着雨，那条路也非常有可能是通的。天空已经开始变灰，应该不久就会放晴了。

261

-

“Him bonza track in dry far as bore,”he said. She nodded; this was likely enough because the bore had only been made a few months and there must have been trucks going up to it. It would probably be possible to get along it even in this rain. Already the sky was getting grey; full daylight was not far away.

262

-

她问道：“需要过河吗？”

262

-

She asked,“Are there any creeks to cross?”

263

-

他举起三根指头。“树。”

263

-

He held up three fingers.“Tree.”

264

-

“河水深吗？越野车可以通过吗？”

264

-

“Are they deep? Can the utility go through?”

265

-

“能通过，小姐。小河不太深。”

265

-

“Yes, Missy. Creeks not too deep.”

266

-

如果布尔内维尔骑马在越野车旁边给她指路，她觉得自己应该能够完成这个任务。无论如何，那值得一试。最糟糕的结果就是她半路绊在坑里，不得不让布尔内维尔带着一张便条回到威尔斯镇，请他们派一个更能干的人过来。只要他骑着他的马，就不会造成重大延误。她说：“好吧，布尔内维尔，我来开越野车。你骑马跟我一起走。”

266

-

If Bourneville rode a horse beside the utility to guide her, she thought that she could make it. It was worth trying, anyway; the worst that could happen would be that she would get it stuck and have to send Bourneville back to Willstown with a note for them to send up somebody more competent. So long as he had his horse there was no risk of any great delay. She said,“All right, Bourneville, I’ll drive the utility. You come up with me on your horse.”

267

-

“换一匹马，小姐。它累了。”

267

-

“Get fresh horse, Missy. Him tired.”

268

-

“没问题，换一匹。”布尔内维尔肯定也累了，但那爬满皱纹的黑脸庞对她而言太陌生，她察觉不出他的倦容。“你带点食物，”她说，“我也带一点。我们半小时后出发。”

268

-

“All right, get a fresh horse.”Bourneville must be tired too, but she was too unaccustomed to these seamed black faces to be able to detect fatigue.“You get some tucker,”she said.“I get tucker, too. We’ll start in half an hour.”

269

-

他走开了，她烧了一壶开水，喝了一杯茶，然后去换上她的骑马衬衫和马裤。她昨晚发现乔的房间里有一个半满的旧锡箱，装着绷带、夹板和各种药物。她想它是锡制的，可以防水，于是把毯子装进去，再装进去一些从储藏柜里拿出来的食物罐头和一小包面粉。她只能想到要带这么多东西。万一半路陷入深坑，她将不得不在越野车里过一两个晚上。

269

-

He went off and she put the kettle on for a cup of tea and then went and changed into her riding shirt and breeches. There was an old tin truck in Joe’s room which she had discovered the night before; it was half full of bandages and splints and various medicines. Being of tin, she thought, it would be waterproof, and she filled it up with blankets and some tins of food from the store cupboard, and a small sack of flour. That was all she could think of for provision in case she got stuck halfway and had to spend a night or two in the utility.

270

-

她喝了一杯茶，吃了一顿包含肉、面包和果酱的早饭。然后走下楼梯到院子里检查那辆越野车。巨大的汽油箱里有二十加仑汽油，机油箱里满满都是油。她从大水箱里舀水灌满了引擎冷却器，并把从车灯架上吊下来的水袋装满。然后她爬上驾驶舱。让她松了一口气的是，变速器上的标识非常清楚。她转动开关，摁下发动键，拉起加速器。引擎发动时，她感到既害怕又高兴。她小心翼翼地挂了倒挡，把越野车驶出了后院。

270

-

She had a cup of tea and a small meal of meat and bread and jam; then she went down to the yard and examined the utility. The huge petrol tank had twenty gallons in it, and the sump was full of oil. She filled the radiator from the water-butt and filled the waterbag suspended from the lamp bracket. Then she sat in it; to her relief the gears were clearly marked. She switched it on and pressed the starter and jiggeted the accelerator, and was both alarmed and pleased when the engine started. Very gingerly she put it in reverse and drove it out into the yard.

271

-

箱子被放在驾驶室后面。布尔内维尔在前面骑马带路。她一方面考虑到布尔内维尔骑着马，另一方面也完全不相信自己的能力，所以一路上她从未挂满挡，时速也不曾超过十英里。她驶过三条小溪，每次都沿着布尔内维尔指示的路线通过，跟着步履蹒跚的马往前走。在马的脚下，黄色的流水形成漩涡，令它焦躁不安。途中，水位一度升到驾驶舱的地板处，她非常害怕。但她继续往前开，设计者早就预料到此种情况，把汽车的点火系统置于汽缸之上。越野车一蹦一跳地驶过一块又一块岩石，水从每个洞口和每条裂缝里喷涌而出。

271

-

They put the trunk into the back and started off, Bourneville riding ahead of her to show her the way. Partly because of Bourneville on his horse and partly because she thoroughly distrusted her own competence, she never got it into top gear all the way, and never exceeded ten miles an hour. She drove through each of the three creeks along the line that Bourneville showed her, following the agitated, plunging horse as he forced through the yellow water swirling about its legs. Once the water rose above the floorboards of the cab and she was very frightened. But she kept the utility going and the designer had anticipated such usage and had placed the ignition system above the cylinders, and it came through bounding from rock to rock with water pouring out of every hole and cranny.

272

-

在钻头以北四英里处，乔·哈曼坐在他那个小帐篷的开口处。在一个小山谷的底部有一片茂密的树林，有人清出来一块空地，帐篷就扎在这块空地上。空地上有一排坚固的木栅栏，或者说是一个畜栏，就在帐篷后面。做门的木头都是可以移动的，此时被拆掉了，畜栏是空的。乔在帐篷前生了火，正在烧水。

272

-

Four miles beyond the bore Joe Harman sat at the mouth of his small tent. It was pitched in a clearing in a thick patch of bush in the bottom of a little valley. A heavy log stockade or corral had been built in this clearing and stood immediately behind the tent; the movable logs that formed a gate had been pulled down and the corral was empty. Joe had built a fire before the tent, and he was boiling up in a billy over it.

273

-

帐篷里有一张用灌木做的床，上面铺着防水床单。一个男人躺在床上，身上盖着一张毯子。乔转过头去，说：“发生了什么事，唐？它们把门冲破的时候是不是把你撞倒了？”

273

-

A man lay inside upon a bed of brushwood covered with a waterproof sheet, with a blanket over him. Joe turned his head, and said,“What happened, Don? Did they rush you when you got the pole down?”

274

-

那个男人从帐篷里说：“真该死。它们把柱子撞到我的身上，把我击倒了。然后有差不多六头牛从我身上踩过。”

274

-

From the tent the man said,“My bloody oath. They pushed the pole back on to me and knocked me down. Then about six of them ran over me.”

275

-

乔说：“活该。让你在其他人的土地上到处偷牛。”

275

-

Joe said,“Serve you bloody well right. Teach you to go muggering about on other people’s land.”

276

-

他顿了顿，然后说：“你去年偷了我多少头牛，唐？”

276

-

There was a pause. Then he said,“How many of mine did you get last year, Don?”

277

-

“大概三百头。”

277

-

“’Bout three hundred.”

278

-

哈曼先生笑了。“我从你那儿偷了三百五十头。”

278

-

Mr Harman laughed.“I got three hundred and fifty of yours.”

279

-

帐篷里的柯蒂斯先生说了一句非常粗鲁的话。

279

-

	Jean [dʒiːn]	n.斜纹布(复数)jeans:牛仔裤.
	Sydney ['sɪdni]	n.悉尼
	air-condition ['eəkənˌdɪʃən]	v.给…装上空调;用空调调节(空气)
	Derek ['derɪk]	n.德里克(男子名)
	cairn [keən]	n.石堆纪念碑;石冢;堆石界标
	Levy ['levi]	n.征税;召集
	bill [bɪl]	①帐单；清单;
	coffin ['kɒfɪn]	n.棺材
	lorry ['lɒri]	n.卡车
	squat [skwɒt]	v.蹲下;蹲坐;擅自占地
	layout ['leɪaʊt]	n.安排;布局;设计
	annex [ə'neks]	vt.并吞;附加;获得
	Carter ['kɑːtə]	n.运货马车夫
	lease [liːs]	n.租约
	thoughtful ['θɔːtfl]	adj.深思的;体贴的
	rend [rend]	v.撕破;分裂;劈开;强夺
	borough ['bʌrə]	n.自治的市镇;区
	shill [ʃɪl]	n.托儿;雇佣骗子
	shilling ['ʃɪlɪŋ]	n.先令(货币单位)
	adjourn [ə'dʒɜːn]	v.(使)延期;中止;换地方
	stainless ['steɪnlɪs]	adj.无污点的
	crate [kreɪt]	n.板条箱;篓子;旧汽车
	consign [kən'saɪn]	vt.交付;放逐;委托
	tentative ['tentətɪv]	adj.不确定的;暂时的;试验性质的;犹豫不决的
	kindly ['kaɪndli]	adj.和蔼的;温和的;爽快的
	rude [ruːd]	adj.粗鲁无礼的;原始的;未加工的;粗糙的;猛烈的
	eccentricity [ˌeksen'trɪsəti]	n.古怪;古怪的行为;怪癖;离心率
	disentangle [ˌdɪsɪn'tæŋɡl]	v.解开;松开;摆脱;解决(纠纷等)
	hitherto [ˌhɪðə'tuː]	adv.到目前为止;迄今
	parch [pɑːtʃ]	v.烘;烤干;炙烤
	tuft [tʌft]	n.(头发、羽毛等)一绺;一丛草
	scorch [skɔːtʃ]	v.(使)烧焦;变焦;(使)枯萎
	eucalyptus [ˌjuːkə'lɪptəs]	n.桉树
	pothole ['pɒthəʊl]	n.坑洞;锅穴
	stampede [stæm'piːd]	n.(人群的)蜂拥;惊逃
	grind [ɡraɪnd]	v.磨;压迫;碾碎;磨得吱吱响;逐渐停顿
	barren ['bærən]	adj.贫瘠的;无效的;不育的
	tussock ['tʌsək]	n.草丛
	graze [ɡreɪz]	v.放牧;(牛、羊等)吃草
	furry ['fɜːri]	adj.毛皮的;盖着毛皮的;似毛皮的;有舌苔的;沙哑的
	kangaroo [ˌkæŋɡə'ruː]	n.袋鼠
	homestead ['həʊmsted]	n.家园;田产;农场
	tack [tæk]	n.大头钉;行动方针
	swish [swɪʃ]	vt. 嗖嗖地挥舞;
	corrugate ['kɒrʊgeɪt]	v.(使)起波浪形;起皱纹
	fern [fɜːn]	n.羊齿植物;蕨
	ray [reɪ]	n.光线;射线;辐射
	rafter ['rɑːftə(r)]	n.椽;屋梁
	enamel [ɪ'næml]	n.搪瓷;珐琅;瓷釉
	noisily ['nɔɪzɪli]	adv.喧闹地
	litter ['lɪtə(r)]	n. 【U】杂乱物；废纸;
	veranda [və'rændə]	n.阳台;游廊
	puppy ['pʌpi]	n.小狗;自负的小伙子
	surge [sɜːdʒ]	n.汹涌
	grovel ['ɡrɒvl]	v.趴;匍匐;卑躬屈膝
	lick [lɪk]	v.舔;轻拍;击败;掠过
	enclosure [ɪn'kləʊʒə(r)]	n.附件;围墙;围绕
	spear [spɪə(r)]	n.矛;标枪
	stoop [stuːp]	n.佝偻;弯腰;屈尊;俯冲 vi. 屈身，弯腰;
	nibble ['nɪbl]	v.一点点地咬;轻咬;吹毛求疵;(审慎地)表示有意接受
	caress [kə'res]	n.爱抚;拥抱
	fry [fraɪ]	v.油煎;油炸
	Moonshine ['muːnʃaɪn]	n.月光;空话;荒唐的空想;私酿酒(尤指威士忌)
	indigestion [ˌɪndɪ'dʒestʃən]	n.消化不良;不能理解
	reorganize [ri'ɔːɡənaɪz]	v.改组;整顿
	parlor ['pɑːlə]	n. (机关、银行等)接待室，客厅;
	stockman ['stɒkmən]	n.畜牧工;仓库管理员
	unmarried [ˌʌn'mærid]	adj.未婚的;独身的
	ringer ['rɪŋə(r)]	n.振铃器;敲钟人;铁环;套环;冒名顶替者;酷似的人
	oddment ['ɒdmənt]	n.剩余物;零头;奇怪的事情(复)oddments: 零碎物件.
	machinery [mə'ʃiːnəri]	n.机械
	Diesel ['diːzl]	n.柴油机;内燃机
	Robin ['rɒbɪn]	罗宾(人名)
	saddle ['sædl]	n.鞍;车座;山脊;当权
	dunno [də'nəʊ]	v. (我)不知道(=I don't know)
	queer [kwɪə(r)]	a. 古怪的，奇怪的;
	memorable ['memərəbl]	adj.值得纪念的;难忘的
	stirrup ['stɪrəp]	n.【机】镫形具;马蹬;【建】(抗剪的)箍筋
	felted ['feltɪd]	v. 把 ... 制成毡(使 ... 粘结)
	arch [ɑːtʃ]	n.拱;拱门;拱状物
	clamp [klæmp]	n.夹子;螺丝钳
	rein [reɪn]	n.缰绳;驾驭;控制
	scurry ['skʌri]	v.小步疾走;急赶
	swirl [swɜːl]	n.漩涡;涡状形
	alligator ['ælɪɡeɪtə(r)]	n.短吻鳄
	dive [daɪv]	n.潜水;跳水
	drench [drentʃ]	v.灌药;使湿透;过分沉溺
	thirst [θɜːst]	vi.渴望;渴求;口渴
	apologetically [əˌpɒlə'dʒetɪkli]	adv.辩解地;道歉地
	scrub [skrʌb]	n.用力擦洗;矮树;渺小之物
	duffer ['dʌfə(r)]	n.笨蛋;假货;小摊贩
	drover ['drəʊvə(r)]	n.把家畜赶到市集的人
	Cape [keɪp]	n.岬;海角
	pick [pɪkt]	采摘，挑选；
	herd [hɜːd]	n. 【C】(牛、马、猪、象等)群;
	fake [feɪk]	adj.假的
	sleepy ['sliːpi]	adj.欲睡的;困倦的
	calf [kɑːf]	n.小牛;幼崽;愚蠢的年轻人;小牛皮;小腿肚
	muster ['mʌstə(r)]	v.集合;鼓起
	joker ['dʒəʊkə(r)]	n.诙谐者;家伙;(纸牌)百搭;伏笔
	sponge [spʌndʒ]	n.海绵
	Primitive ['prɪmətɪv]	adj.原始的;简陋的
	merciful ['mɜːsɪfl]	adj.仁慈的;宽大的
	kerosene ['kerəsiːn]	n.煤油
	gauze [ɡɔːz]	n.薄纱;纱布;网;薄雾
	utensil [juː'tensl]	n.【C】器具;用具
	staple ['steɪpl]	vt. (用U形钉或订书钉)钉住;
	omelette ['ɒmlət]	n.煎蛋
	clamor ['klæmə]	n.喧嚷;大声的要求
	Underground [ˌʌndə'ɡraʊnd]	adj.地下的;秘密的
	outback ['aʊtbæk]	n.(尤指澳大利亚的)内地
	alteration [ˌɔːltə'reɪʃn]	n.改变;变更
	septic ['septɪk]	adj.腐败的;败血的
	latest ['leɪtɪst]	adj.最近的;最新的
	croak [krəʊk]	v.嗄嗄叫;发牢骚;死
	Annie [ˈænɪ]	n.安妮
	intrigue [ɪn'triːɡ]	vt.欺骗;激起 ... 的兴趣
	novelty ['nɒvlti]	n.【C】新奇;小装饰
	abo ['æbəʊ]	n. 土著; 土著居民
	soda ['səʊdə]	n.汽水;苏打
	blaze [bleɪz]	n. 火；火焰;
	carol ['kærəl]	n.颂歌;欢乐的歌;卡罗尔(人名)
	chromium ['krəʊmiəm]	n.【化】铬
	Pete [piːt]	皮特(Peter 的昵称)(m.)
	slack [slæk]	a. 松弛;
	behaviour [bɪˈheɪvɪə]	n.行为
	goodbye [gʊdˈbaɪ]	再见
	refreshing [rɪ'freʃɪŋ]	adj.提神的;新鲜宜人的;与众不同的,
	Bill [bɪl]	①帐单；清单;
	bundle ['bʌndl]	n.捆;束
	esteem [ɪ'stiːm]	n.尊敬
	presently ['prezntli]	adv.不久;一会儿;现在;目前
	miserable ['mɪzrəbl]	adj.痛苦的;悲惨的;贫乏的;狼狈的
	crook [krʊk]	n.钩;曲柄杖;弯曲;骗子
	Wales [weɪlz]	n.英国威尔士(英国的一部分;位于大不列颠岛西南)
	arse [ɑːs]	n.屁股;笨蛋
	gallon ['ɡælən]	n.加仑(容量单位)
	fuss [fʌs]	n.(神经质的)兴奋，激动；紧张；急躁;
	bridle ['braɪdl]	n.马笼头，缰绳;约束，约束物
	wax [wæks]	n.蜡;蜂蜡
	energetic [ˌenə'dʒetɪk]	adj.精力旺盛的;有力的;能量的
	Sally ['sæli]	n.俏皮话;突围
	gradual ['ɡrædʒuəl]	adj.逐渐的;逐步的;平缓的
	trot [trɒt]	vi. (马)疾驰;
	dusk [dʌsk]	n.黄昏;薄暮;幽暗
	goodnight [ˌɡʊd'naɪt]	int.晚安;再见
	distemper [dɪ'stempə(r)]	vt. 【常用被动语态】使不正常；使失调；使不安;
	turnover ['tɜːnəʊvə(r)]	n.营业额
	wither ['wɪðə(r)]	vi.枯萎，干枯;凋谢
	complication [ˌkɒmplɪ'keɪʃn]	n.复杂;并发症;纠纷
	humidity [hjuː'mɪdəti]	n.湿度;湿气
	earlier ['ɜːlɪə]	adj.早的;初期的
	manufacture [ˌmænju'fæktʃə(r)]	v.(手工)制造
	scuttle ['skʌtl]	n.煤斗;天窗
	foodstuff ['fuːdstʌf]	n.食品;食料
	boulder ['bəʊldə(r)]	n.大圆石;巨砾
	muddy ['mʌdi]	adj.泥泞的;浑浊的;糊涂的
	terrify ['terɪfaɪ]	v.使害怕;使恐怖;威胁
	overhang ['əʊvəhæŋ]	v.悬于 ... 之上;悬垂;逼近
	plow [plau]	n.犁;耕地
	Bacon ['beɪkən]	n.培根;咸肉;熏肉
	pavement ['peɪvmənt]	n.人行道
	fireman ['faɪəmən]	n.消防队员;司炉工
	gleam [ɡliːm]	v.闪烁;隐约地闪现
	microphone ['maɪkrəfəʊn]	n.麦克风;
	wireless ['waɪələs]	adj.无线的
	Baker ['beɪkə(r)]	n.面包师;烤炉
	cooler ['kuːlə(r)]	n.冷却器
	Cutter ['kʌtə(r)]	n.切割器;刀具
	Roger ['rɒdʒə(r)]	n.罗杰(男子名)
	statutory ['stætʃətri]	a. 法定的;
	telegram ['telɪɡræm]	电报;
	ounce [aʊns]	n.盎司
	sob [sɒb]	v.抽泣;呜咽
	impede [ɪm'piːd]	vt.妨碍;阻止
	static ['stætɪk]	adj.静态的;静止的
	motionless ['məʊʃnləs]	adj.不动的;静止的
	transmitter [træns'mɪtə(r)]	n.传播者;发射机
	Helen ['helən]	n.海伦(女子名)
	Fred [fred]	= Fast Random Enquiry Display,快速随机查询显示;
	heterodyne ['hetərədaɪn]	vt.外差
	Walker ['wɔːkə(r)]	n.步行者;行人;助步车
	past [pɑːst]	a. 过去的;
	Olive ['ɒlɪv]	n.橄榄;橄榄树;橄榄色
	Constable ['kʌnstəbl]	n.警官;治安官;巡官;(皇家或贵族的) 总管
	squelch [skweltʃ]	v.发出嘎吱声;压扁;镇压
	Chap [tʃæp]	vt. 使(皮肤)裂口，裂开；变粗糙;
	corral [kə'rɑːl]	n.畜栏
	scarce [skeəs]	adj.缺乏的;不足的;稀少的;罕见的
	Bout [baʊt]	n.回合;一场;一阵;发作;(摔跤等)比赛
	Gilbert ['gɪlbət]	n.【电】吉伯(磁通量的单位)
	hunting ['hʌntɪŋ]	n.打猎;搜寻【电子学】速度偏差.
	gator ['ɡeɪtə(r)]	n.短鼻鳄鱼
	tucker ['tʌkə(r)]	n.打横褶的人;打褶装置;领布
	camped [kæmp]	露宿的
	distressingly [dɪ'stres]	令人苦恼地；悲惨地
	loaf [ləʊf]	n.(一条)面包;块
	cocoa ['kəʊkəʊ]	n.可可粉;可可饮料;可可色
	indefinite [ɪn'defɪnət]	adj.模糊的;不确定的;无限期的
	Chancery ['tʃɑːnsəri]	n.大法官法庭;衡平法院;档案室
	diameter [daɪ'æmɪtə(r)]	n.直径
	tatter ['tætə]	v.使破烂;变得破烂
	doze [dəʊz]	v.打瞌睡
	Missy ['mɪsi]	n.小姐;姑娘;少女
	seam [siːm]	n.缝;接缝
	feller ['felə]	n.伐木工;接缝工;小伙子
	humiliate [hjuː'mɪlieɪt]	vt.使 ... 蒙羞;使丢脸
	competent ['kɒmpɪtənt]	adj.有能力的;足够的;胜任的
	bandage ['bændɪdʒ]	n.绷带
	splint [splɪnt]	n.薄木片;托板;夹板
	tin [tɪn]	n.锡;罐头;听头
	sump [sʌmp]	n.污水坑;水坑;机油箱
	bracket ['brækɪt]	n.支架
	accelerator [ək'seləreɪtə(r)]	n.加速装置
	thorough ['θʌrə]	adj.彻底的;完全的;详尽的;细致深入的
	distrust [dɪs'trʌst]	v.不信任
	agitate ['ædʒɪteɪt]	v.煽动;搅动;焦虑
	floorboard ['flɔːbɔːd]	n.地板
	usage ['juːsɪdʒ]	n.使用;用法
	ignition [ɪɡ'nɪʃn]	n.点火
	movable ['muːvəbl]	adj.可动的;动产的;不定的
	billy ['bɪli]	n.棍棒;警棍;【英纺】粗纱机
	brushwood ['brʌʃwʊd]	n.树枝;灌木丛;丛林地带
	oath [əʊθ]	n.誓言;誓约;咒骂语